I am working on a potential game version of the battle between Starfleet and the Borg from "First Contact". Specifically, the running battle between their encounter in the Typhon Sector and to Sector 001 (Sol). I intend at least half the game to take place at high warp speeds. So the questions about relative speeds and combat come up.
First I have questions about relative speeds. In "The Motion Picture" the USS Enterprise come to a relative stop in the V'Ger cloud. Which is of V'Ger are they on? if they are coming from Earth to V'Ger, aren't they in front of the cloud's direction of movement. It has to be moving at warp speeds since it will be at Earth in days and it has been moving from Klingon space since the start of the film. If the Enterprise is in front of V'Ger, how it is holding a relative potion at warp speeds? In reverse? Can a starship do that. Maintain warp speed in any given direction? We usually see them going forwards, but it is a subspace bubble. It could be shaped to go in any direction, right?
Next we have the Dominion War. Operation Return. Starfleet sends two fleets to retake Deep Space Nine and the Dominion sends a massive fleet out to stop them. Are they just sitting there at impulse? Why? They have warp drives. Can the fleets hold relative positions are warp when there are hundreds of ships on each side? Maybe it is a "polite" thing to do to come out of warp and face each other in a civilized war? Aside from seeing the action on screen, why did the fleets come to a halt at impulse, then Sisko sends fighters out until a gap open then runs the fleet in at full impulse? Why are they not just running at warp 8 or whatever all the way to the Bajor system?
Then we get to "First Contact". What was Starfleet's plan when it came to the one Borg Cube? They seemed to have set up a defensive position in the Typhon Sector. Subspace radio traffic has they redeploy USS Defiant and USS Bozeman to secondary positions right before the cube arrives. Right at the cube arrives it delivers its usual ultimatum. Starfleet opens fire, then the line is broken, ships are damaged. Did the cube even bother to come out of warp? it was moving at Warp 9 something. They had a running fight all the way to Earth, and several starships were still with the cube fighting away when the scene finally shifts to them and USS Defiant. Was Starfleet sitting at warp in the Typhon Sector to intercept the cube at warp, or where they sitting at impulse and the Borg ran them over at Warp 9 with the fleet having to jump after it and run at Warp 9 all the way to Sol? And firing what at it. Torpedoes? Phasers are iffy at warp speeds from what I remember. It doesn't come up a lot, but we've seem combat a few times at warp speeds. How has the advantage in warp? How close do you need to be to engage with phasers? We know torpedoes can be used at warp and we know plasma weapons seem to work at warp for some reason as even in TOS the Romulan plasma torpedoes seem to be able to close on the Enterprise even when it is reversing away at Warp 2. How? Both for the plasma torpedo and for the Enterprise reversing in warp?
It is a big topic. But mainly it is so I can get a better grasp on what needs to happen for the game mechanics. It is hex based because that is what I have available using whatever ship miniatures I can with a 13" by 13" Borg Cube a friend of mine built out of a milk crate and a lot of plastic bits and rods. Currently I am thinking of having the "board/mat" be a static relative warp 9 in the direction of Earth. While it does not represent the actual distances that would be traveled, every hex "forwards" would be a 0.1 over Warp 9 in a given game turn. So 9 hexes would mean the starship was traveling at Warp 9.9 that turn. The Borg would move six hexes most turns, so Warp 9.6. Some starships on the list cannot maintain that speed. Warp 9.4 is their max sustainable speed. Others like the Akira can do Warp 9.8 or an Intrepid could do at least Warp 9.9. Other ships can barely maintain Warp 8, but those ships will be waiting at Earth for the sublight part of the game, not the warp speed run to Sector 001.
But would Starfleet have been waiting on a line to block the Borg at the start? Then have to turn around and chase? Or were they at a relative position in subspace and when the Borg kept at high warp, they pulled around and swarmed to Cube at warp speeds?
First I have questions about relative speeds. In "The Motion Picture" the USS Enterprise come to a relative stop in the V'Ger cloud. Which is of V'Ger are they on? if they are coming from Earth to V'Ger, aren't they in front of the cloud's direction of movement. It has to be moving at warp speeds since it will be at Earth in days and it has been moving from Klingon space since the start of the film. If the Enterprise is in front of V'Ger, how it is holding a relative potion at warp speeds? In reverse? Can a starship do that. Maintain warp speed in any given direction? We usually see them going forwards, but it is a subspace bubble. It could be shaped to go in any direction, right?
Next we have the Dominion War. Operation Return. Starfleet sends two fleets to retake Deep Space Nine and the Dominion sends a massive fleet out to stop them. Are they just sitting there at impulse? Why? They have warp drives. Can the fleets hold relative positions are warp when there are hundreds of ships on each side? Maybe it is a "polite" thing to do to come out of warp and face each other in a civilized war? Aside from seeing the action on screen, why did the fleets come to a halt at impulse, then Sisko sends fighters out until a gap open then runs the fleet in at full impulse? Why are they not just running at warp 8 or whatever all the way to the Bajor system?
Then we get to "First Contact". What was Starfleet's plan when it came to the one Borg Cube? They seemed to have set up a defensive position in the Typhon Sector. Subspace radio traffic has they redeploy USS Defiant and USS Bozeman to secondary positions right before the cube arrives. Right at the cube arrives it delivers its usual ultimatum. Starfleet opens fire, then the line is broken, ships are damaged. Did the cube even bother to come out of warp? it was moving at Warp 9 something. They had a running fight all the way to Earth, and several starships were still with the cube fighting away when the scene finally shifts to them and USS Defiant. Was Starfleet sitting at warp in the Typhon Sector to intercept the cube at warp, or where they sitting at impulse and the Borg ran them over at Warp 9 with the fleet having to jump after it and run at Warp 9 all the way to Sol? And firing what at it. Torpedoes? Phasers are iffy at warp speeds from what I remember. It doesn't come up a lot, but we've seem combat a few times at warp speeds. How has the advantage in warp? How close do you need to be to engage with phasers? We know torpedoes can be used at warp and we know plasma weapons seem to work at warp for some reason as even in TOS the Romulan plasma torpedoes seem to be able to close on the Enterprise even when it is reversing away at Warp 2. How? Both for the plasma torpedo and for the Enterprise reversing in warp?
It is a big topic. But mainly it is so I can get a better grasp on what needs to happen for the game mechanics. It is hex based because that is what I have available using whatever ship miniatures I can with a 13" by 13" Borg Cube a friend of mine built out of a milk crate and a lot of plastic bits and rods. Currently I am thinking of having the "board/mat" be a static relative warp 9 in the direction of Earth. While it does not represent the actual distances that would be traveled, every hex "forwards" would be a 0.1 over Warp 9 in a given game turn. So 9 hexes would mean the starship was traveling at Warp 9.9 that turn. The Borg would move six hexes most turns, so Warp 9.6. Some starships on the list cannot maintain that speed. Warp 9.4 is their max sustainable speed. Others like the Akira can do Warp 9.8 or an Intrepid could do at least Warp 9.9. Other ships can barely maintain Warp 8, but those ships will be waiting at Earth for the sublight part of the game, not the warp speed run to Sector 001.
But would Starfleet have been waiting on a line to block the Borg at the start? Then have to turn around and chase? Or were they at a relative position in subspace and when the Borg kept at high warp, they pulled around and swarmed to Cube at warp speeds?
