Worms and mines, take 2.

[Xhiandra]

Why didn't the Federation re-mine the wormhole entrance?

So, I've reached mid-S6 of my latest rewatch and I just realised: upon re-taking the station and hindering the production of Ketracel White in the alpha quadrant, why didn't Starfleet mine the wormhole again upon retaking the station?

The Dominion is temporarily deterred from crossing it after Sacrifice of Angels, but that's not reliable.

To take it down again, the Dominion would need 1) to take the station again (or destroy it) and 2) to have an anti-graviton emitter on hand to disarm the replication of the mines.
But now that they know this, Starfleet could easily booby trap the station deflector to be blown to smithereens if the station is lost. Also, Rom could design mines without that weakness, since his reaction to "they can disarm the replication this way" was "I didn't think about it".

 

[Timo]

After the intervention of the Prophets, it's pretty clear that mines and battlefleets are peanut-gallery measures for controlling the wormhole. It doesn't matter whether it's a Dominion fleet or a Starfleet minefield, or vice versa: whoever has rapport with the Prophets, wins. And it doesn't look as if the Dominion has a prayer in establishing that rapport, whereas all the Sisko has to do is, well, pray.

Really, any effort spent at the wormhole, be it attack or defense, would be wasted, and would detract from winning the war. Not a self-replicating minefield as such, as it's easily cobbled together by the DS9 team and apparently doesn't call for much maintenance. But an attempt at defending the minefield (which is what you have to do with all minefields if you hope to use them for tactical gain, rather than mere random sniping of commerce and general fear-mongering) would mean fewer ships and men sent against Dominion forces elsewhere.

Now, as for erecting a protective minefield around the actually relevant Alpha Axis strategic asset, the Sisko...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

The Prophets won't permit any Dominion forces to pass through the wormhole so there's no need to re-mine the entrance.

 

[Timo]

The counterpoint to that being, why not put the mines there nevertheless, for extra security? It's not as if the Alpha Axis would have any use of its own for the wormhole, either, and since they can't collapse it for good, they might do well to establish some backup.

In the World Wars, mines were expensive assets, so putting them at A meant not having them at B where they might do more good. In DS9, they are not: they build themselves, without straining Starfleet resources elsewhere. Much like the Dominion forces at Alpha built themselves, without diminishing the defenses of the Dominion itself.

But as said, mines left undefended are not a good asset. It only took months for the Dominion to defeat them the first time around because they were mysterious Wunderwaffe, like the German magnetic mines in 1940. The second time around, they'd be but a nuisance, unless defended. And defense of an asset that in all probability is worthless is a bad idea - even when there's the off chance that the Prophets might fall asleep and the asset would again have some worth.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Xhiandra]

The Prophets won't permit any Dominion forces to pass through the wormhole so there's no need to re-mine the entrance.

Won't they? They begrudgingly stopped a Dominion fleet once, there is no guarantee they would do it again.

But as said, mines left undefended are not a good asset. It only took months for the Dominion to defeat them the first time around because they were mysterious Wunderwaffe, like the German magnetic mines in 1940. The second time around, they'd be but a nuisance, unless defended. And defense of an asset that in all probability is worthless is a bad idea - even when there's the off chance that the Prophets might fall asleep and the asset would again have some worth.

Timo Saloniemi

.
The station defends the mines. The Dominion would have to either re-take the station or destroy it to have a chance at disarming the minefield again, and the weakness of the mines could be patched, as Rom seems to imply. And the station itself is defended, by the fleets stationned there.
It wouldn't really require additional effort.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Won't they? They begrudgingly stopped a Dominion fleet once, there is no guarantee they would do it again.

Even the Prophets don't want to tick off The Sisko. All he has to do is set up another relay on the GQ side then, every time it detects a Dominion fleet moving towards the wormhole, take the Defiant back inside and put his life (aka "the game") at risk for the Prophets to take action once again, whilst reminded them they are of Bajor.

But I think after his first time they'd keep that in mind and prevent Dominion ships from passing through en masse, since if they didn't they'd be exposing Bajor and their Emissary to ever increasing danger.

 

[Timo]

The station defends the mines. The Dominion would have to either re-take the station or destroy it to have a chance at disarming the minefield again, and the weakness of the mines could be patched, as Rom seems to imply. And the station itself is defended, by the fleets stationed there. It wouldn't really require additional effort.

It's already debilitatingly bad as it is - the fleet has no business being there when it really ought to be elsewhere, fighting. There¨s nothing in the Bajoran system to fight for, for most of the duration of the war. And so far the station has been a vulnerability to be exploited, a means for the Dominion to meet its goals: a base from which to dismantle the minefield, a weapon to be perverted into a tool for jamming the wormhole open, a convenient locale for spy operations...

Timo Saloniemi