This always bothered me about Arena

[Timo]

From what I gather, there's only one ratio that gives a powerful explosion, and all the others give a fizzle. Kirk would have failed to hit that very narrow Goldilocks zone for sure, unless he got extremely lucky. The holodeck theory makes good sense, then.

The other problem is that Kirk would have been hard pressed to create homogeneous gunpowder: there'd possibly be some lumps that work, and then lots of inert lumps. Now that might affect the directionality of the explosion - but in the opposite manner, so that a lumpy powder might provide some random directionality while a properly homogeneous one would provide none.

The main criterion for getting the projectiles to fly as planned would be the ability of the walls to contain the explosion. We see that they did (Kirk is alive, the gems hit the Gorn), which is not inconsistent with the fact that they ceased to be. They simply held long enough, and didn't turn into deadly shrapnel when yielding. (Perhaps they were highly flammable and disappeared through combustion after weathering the pressure just fine?)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[ZapBrannigan]

No question the Metrons put their thumb on the scale, whether it was by holodeck simulation or some other trick.

The difference between precision-made gunpowder, and what you could measure off bare-handed atop a boulder, would be absolutely ridiculous. I think I've seen Mythbusters show that fact, and how handmade stuff just fizzles and pops.

 

[Wingsley]

We know that the Earth outpost on Cestus III is on the planet's surface, exposed. Kirk and company beamed right into the smoldering ruins of that exposed outpost. An unknown force of Gorn infantry and/or aircav were operating in or near the "high ground" overlooking the remains of the outpost.

Add to this, Cestus III is obviously a planet, meaning it has a curved surface. It is entirely possible that the Gorn starship and the Enterprise are not able to directly see each other ("visual range") because each is over the horizon, relative to the other. Doing so would still allow them to continue to orbit the planet and be able to keep in contact with their respective personnel on the surface, while taking potshots at each other.

It's entirely possible the ships could be within weapons range, but the planet's atmosphere would interfere with direct fire and targeting solutions. We also don't know if there are any moons or asteroids involved. The injured Cestus III lieutenant mentioned that the Gorn "knocked us out with their first salvo" and that the Gorn "poured it on, like phasers only worse." Who's to say the Gorn didn't try flinging a few meteors or comets at the planet's surface to distract or weaken the Cestus III defenses? If they were doing that, and if there were any menacing asteroids or comets left aloft when the Enterprise arrived that the Gorn vessel could have been hiding behind, or even perching, on the far side of one of those bodies.

The interesting thing about this episode is that Cestus III is first described as an "observation outpost", implying scientific or intelligence significance to Earth. The outpost operation includes a V.I.P. that Captain Kirk is familiar with on a first-name basis: Commodore Travers. (We can assume Travers is a Starfleet flag officer, but even if Travers simply works for U.E.S.P.A., he is still pretty high ranking for an outpost. In "Balance of Terror", Earth Outpost Four is administered by Commander Hansen.) So Earth and/or the Federation already had something cooking there before the Gorn attacked. And since Travers and Kirk already knew each other personally (the Gorn had to listen in to be able to lure Kirk there so easily), you can bet Travers was no paper tiger. "This colony is isolated, exposed, out on the edge of nowhere. He probably wants additional advice," Kirk told Spock and McCoy. For either Earth or Starfleet to send a flag officer to such a frontier assignment implies that the location and the outpost's mission are indeed of prime importance. The presence of a flag officer at the outpost also (loosely) implies to me that the Enterprise wasn't the first space vessel the Gorn attacked. The Brass don't just go ashore and kick back; Travers probably had a flagship assigned to him that was whacked before Kirk arrived.

 

[FormerLurker]

He might have had a smaller gunship that could land, which would have been destroyed in the Gorn's first salvo. As it wasn't mentioned in the episode, we could speculate all day about it.

 

[Timo]

Regarding the over-the-horizon concept, transporters would supposedly be among the things blocked by the horizon - it's frequently established that they can't penetrate much rock.

But since the fight was all about a surface installation, the tactics used would indeed be likely to make use of the horizon. Surface teams at that fixed location would be a major concern for both sides, even after the outpost was reduced to an uninteresting ruin.

Whether transporter range trumps weapons range... I guess this would depend on the multitude of conditions and circumstances affecting transporter performance.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Marsden]

We know that the Earth outpost on Cestus III is on the planet's surface, exposed. Kirk and company beamed right into the smoldering ruins of that exposed outpost. An unknown force of Gorn infantry and/or aircav were operating in or near the "high ground" overlooking the remains of the outpost.

Add to this, Cestus III is obviously a planet, meaning it has a curved surface. It is entirely possible that the Gorn starship and the Enterprise are not able to directly see each other ("visual range") because each is over the horizon, relative to the other. Doing so would still allow them to continue to orbit the planet and be able to keep in contact with their respective personnel on the surface, while taking potshots at each other.

It's entirely possible the ships could be within weapons range, but the planet's atmosphere would interfere with direct fire and targeting solutions. We also don't know if there are any moons or asteroids involved. The injured Cestus III lieutenant mentioned that the Gorn "knocked us out with their first salvo" and that the Gorn "poured it on, like phasers only worse." Who's to say the Gorn didn't try flinging a few meteors or comets at the planet's surface to distract or weaken the Cestus III defenses? If they were doing that, and if there were any menacing asteroids or comets left aloft when the Enterprise arrived that the Gorn vessel could have been hiding behind, or even perching, on the far side of one of those bodies.

The interesting thing about this episode is that Cestus III is first described as an "observation outpost", implying scientific or intelligence significance to Earth. The outpost operation includes a V.I.P. that Captain Kirk is familiar with on a first-name basis: Commodore Travers. (We can assume Travers is a Starfleet flag officer, but even if Travers simply works for U.E.S.P.A., he is still pretty high ranking for an outpost. In "Balance of Terror", Earth Outpost Four is administered by Commander Hansen.) So Earth and/or the Federation already had something cooking there before the Gorn attacked. And since Travers and Kirk already knew each other personally (the Gorn had to listen in to be able to lure Kirk there so easily), you can bet Travers was no paper tiger. "This colony is isolated, exposed, out on the edge of nowhere. He probably wants additional advice," Kirk told Spock and McCoy. For either Earth or Starfleet to send a flag officer to such a frontier assignment implies that the location and the outpost's mission are indeed of prime importance. The presence of a flag officer at the outpost also (loosely) implies to me that the Enterprise wasn't the first space vessel the Gorn attacked. The Brass don't just go ashore and kick back; Travers probably had a flagship assigned to him that was whacked before Kirk arrived.

Good post. According to my same unofficial data, Cestus III is on the edge of Gorn territory and they claimed more than they can hold, the Federation could have been planning to expand into the area using Cestus III as a staging area, maybe upgrading it to a Starbase in the future. That would explain the presence of the Commodore.

Using mass drivers against the colony? I don't think so, but it's an intersting idea. The reason I say no to that is there are no huge craters and the sky is absolutely clear. Mass drivers usually create a lot of dust in the atmosphere from the projectiles partially burning up and kicking up from ground impact.