The Battle of Wolf 359

This was something that I was going to post a few years back and never did. I tripped across it the other day and cleaned up some of the wording. Here is the synopsis of what we had done. I think that it was an interesting experiment. I will post the ships that are generated in later posts.

The Battle of Wolf 359

I have been looking at the Battle of Wolf 359 and have run some scenarios of how the battle would have taken. We know that forty ships engaged one Borg Cube. Thirty-nine ships destroyed one damaged and returned to service. I have always figured that the Federation Fleet should have been able to take out the Borg ship with losses that would be high but still would have stopped the ship.

Using Spacedock rules and ships I proceeded to collect data and make estimates.

To start with I researched out all the ships known to have been at the battle. I have only a list of seventeen ships.

Known List of Ships
USS Ahwahnee NCC-71620 Cheyenne-class
USS Bellerophon NCC-62048 Nebula-class
USS Bonestell NCC-31600 Oberth-class
USS Buran NCC-57580 Challenger-class
USS Chekov NCC-57302 Springfield-class
USS Firebrand NCC-68723 Freedom-class
USS Kyushu NCC-65491 New Orleans-class
USS Liberator NCC-67016 Unknown
USS Melbourne NCC-62043 Excelsior-class
USS Princeton NCC-59804 Niagara-class
USS Righteous, an Excelsior-class (added from STAR TREK: BORG game)
USS Roosevelt Excelsior-class
USS Saratoga NCC-31911 Miranda-class
USS Tolstoy Class unknown
USS Yamaguchi NCC-26510 Ambassador-class
Unidentified Constitution-class
Unidentified Nebula-class
23 other Unknown Starfleet starships

If I was to guess it would have been a mix of Miranda, Excelsior, Oberth variants and a few other ships such as prototypes. There would likely be another one or two Constellation class as well as another Ambassador class. Let’s say that that accounts for three of the twenty-three ship the fifteen would be made up of mix of the Miranda class and Excelsior variants. I chose eight Miranda class variants and seven Excelsior classes for running this scenario. The last eight would be another Ambassador class, another Oberth class, two Constellation class, and for then heck of it I tossed in another Nebula. The last three I chose from ships that I had found not on one list but another list the Gage class and Defender class that I worked up into ships. The last I took the Defender and made a two-nacelle version of the ship that I included. The Miranda’s I divided between the three main variants of the class as I did for the Excelsior between the standard and the Enterprise-B variant.

This was the Federation Fleet of forty ships ready to fight. The next step took researching the fight on screen learning the details of the configuration of the fight. There is much to learn that was on screen about the attack methods used other than swoop in and pull away then turn around and attack. This type of strafing harkens back to the days of early aviation warfare. It has been method used ever since just it has been modified by the type of fighters and their ability to do so.

I took the list of ships and made copies of the ship setting up a series of groups of twos and threes which I settled into an interception pattern that would likely be able to intercept a Borg cube. These groups would consist of attack contingents and intercept back up and fallback positions. Once I had the ships in their formations and locations with help of my fellow GM Dave and a few of our regular players, we ran several scenarios back-to-back. Then replanning the attack formations, we planned a new strategy of attacks and ran a few more tests.

In total we ran a Bakers dozen (13) of scenarios out of them, three scenarios the Borg succeeded although the rest Starfleet sustained serious losses but was able to stop the Cube and destroy it. All these scenarios included the Borg having the knowledge of Starfleet Tactics as well as ship strengths and weakness as Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s knowledge was at the Borgs use so every dice roll got a bonus modification. The scenarios where the Borg succeeded, we gave the Borg enhanced shielding doubling the rules for the Borg shields or instead of slowing from warp as seen on screen they continued past taking a few torpedo hits to the shield running the blockade. In doing this the Borg made the Federation fleet chase them down before turning and fighting. Doing this the Borg reduced the number of ships they had to fight at a time.

The things that remained consistent was… the Federation ships commenced an all-out Phaser and Photon Torpedo attack on the Borg vessels. The damage inflicted was sever most of the time with multiple hits to all shields. Even the regenerative shields did little to slow the repeated hits throughout the fighting. Once the shields were down the Federation ships were able to inflict heaver damage to the cube eventually destroying the Cube.

This was the overview of the Battle of Wolf 359. What do you think?

USS Defender
Class and Type: Defender-Class Heavy Cruiser
Commissioning Date: 2280 (refitted for service in the 24th Century)

Hull Systems
Size: 6
Length: 339 meters
Beams: 140 meters
Height: 59 meters
Decks: 8
Mass: metric tons
SUs Available: 1300 - 2500
SUs Used: 1515

Hull Outer <24>
Hull Inner <24>
Resistance Outer Hull: 8 <9>
Resistance Inner Hull: 8 <9>

Structural Integrity field [1 power/10 Protection/round]
Main: Class 4 (Protection 70/110) <27>
Backup: Class 4 (Protection 40) <14>
Backup: Class 4 (Protection 40) <14>

Personnel Systems
Crew/Passengers/Evac: 215/43/1200
Crew Quarters 258
Barracks: none
Spartan: none
Basic: 142 <15>
Expanded: 85 <17>
Luxury: 26 <26>
Unusual: 5 <5>

Environmental Systems
Basic Life Support [9 Power/round] <24>
Reserve Life Support [5 Power/round] <12>
Emergency Life Support (36 emergency shelters) <12>
Gravity [3 Power/round] <6>
Consumable: three years’ worth <6>
Food Replicators [6 Power/round] <6>
Industrial Replicators
Type: network of small Replicators [2 Power/round] <6>
Type: one Large unit [Power/replicator/round] <3>
Medical Facilities: 7 (+2) [7 Power/round] <35>
Recreation Facilities: 4 (one main holodeck; two personal holodecks; large eating facilities; two small lounges) [8 Power/round] <32>
Personal Transport: turbolifts; Jefferies tubes [2 Power/round] <18>
Fire Suppression System [1 Power/round when active] <6>
Cargo hold: 10,000 cubic meters <1>
Locations:
Escape Pods <3>
Number: 40
Capacity: 8 persons per pod

Propulsion Systems
Warp Drive Nacelles: type 6 <80>
Speed: 6/.07.0/8.0 [1 Power/.2 warp speed]
PIS: Type A (1 hours of Maximum warp) <2>
Impulse Engine Type: Class 5 (.7c/.9c) [7/9 Power/round] <25>
Location:
Reaction Control System (.025c) [2 Power/ round when in use] <6>

Power Systems
Warp Engine Type: Class 3/E (generates 180 Power/round) <43>
Locations:
Impulse Engine[s]: Class 5 (generate 40 power/engine/round)
Auxiliary Power: 2 reactors (generate 5 Power/reactor/round) <6>
Emergency Power: Type C (generates 35 Power/round) <35>
EPS: Standard Power flow, +150 Power transfer/round <45>
Standard Usable Power:

Operations systems
Bridge: <30>

Computers
Core: [5 Power/round] <12>
Core: [5 Power/round] <12>
ODN <18>

Navigational Deflector [5 Power/round] <24>
Range: 10/20,000/50,000/150,000
Accuracy: 5/6/8/11
Location:

Sensor Systems
Long-range Sensors [Power/round] <33>
Range package: Type 4 (Accuracy 3/4/7/10)
High Resolution: 5 Light-years 0.5/0.6 – 1.0/1.1 – 3.5/3.6 – 5.0
Low Resolution: 14 Light-years 1.0/1.1 – 3.5/3.6 – 10.0/10.1 – 14.0
Strength Package: Class 7 (strength 7)
Gain Package: Class Alpha (+1)
Coverage: Standard

Lateral Sensors [5 Power/round] <17>
Strength Package: Class 7 (strength 7)
Gain Package: Class Alpha (+1)
Coverage: Standard

Navigational Sensors: [5 Power/round] <16>
Strength Package: Class 7 (strength 7)
Gain Package: Class Alpha (+1)
Probes: 40 <4>
Sensor Skill: 4

Flight Control Systems
Autopilot: Shipboard systems (flight control) 2, Coordination 2 [1 Power/round in use] <8>

Navigational Computer
Main: Class 2 (+1) [1 Power/round] <1>
Backups: 2 <1>

Inertial Damping Field
Main <36>
Strength: 8 [3 Power/round]
Number: 3
Backup <9>
Strength: 5 [2 Power/round]
Number: 3
Attitude Control [2 Power/round] <2>

Communications Systems
Type: Class 7 [2 Power/round] <14>
Strength: 7
Security: -4
Emergency Communications: [2 Power/round] <1>

Tractor Beams
Emitter: Class Gamma [3 Power/Strength used/round] <9>
Accuracy: 4//7/10
Location: Aft and forward

Emitter: Class Alpha [3 Power/Strength used/round] <3>
Accuracy: 5/6/8/11
Lactation: hanger bay

Transporters
Type: Personnel [5 Power/use] <14 x 4 = 56>
Pads: 6
Emitter/Receiver Array: Personnel Type 4 (30,000 km range)
Energizing/Transition Coils: Class G (strength 7)
Number and location:

Type: Emergency [7 Power/round] <15 x 4 = 60>
Pads: 22
Emitter/Receiver Array: Emergency Type 2 (10,000 km range)
Energizing/Transition Coils: Class G (strength 7)
Number and location:

Type: Cargo [2 Power/round] <11 x 4 = 44>
Pads: 400 kilograms
Emitter/Receiver Array: Cargo Type (20,000 km range)
Energizing/Transition Coils: Class G (strength 7)
Number and location:

Security Systems Rating: 3 <12>
Anti-Intruder System: Yes [1 Power/round] <6>
Internal Force Field [1 Power/3 Strength] <6>
Science Systems Rating: 1 (+0) [1 Power/round] <11>
Specialized Systems: two designated upon construction <10>
Laboratories: 18 <4>

Tactical Systems
Phaser Banks <17 x 12 = 204>
Type VII
Damage: 140 [14 Power]
Number of Emitters: 80 (up to 2 shots per round)
Targeting Systems: Class Alpha Accuracy 5/6/8/11
Range: 10/30,000/100,000/300,000
Location: five located half circular around the dorsal and ventral saucer two aft one ventral and dorsal
Firing arc: 240 degrees
Firing Modes: standard, pulse, continuous and wide beam

Photon Torpedo Launcher <12>
Standard Load: Type II Photon torpedo (200 damage)
Spread: 4
Range: 15/300,000/1,000,000/3,500,000
Targeting Systems: Class Alpha Accuracy 5/6/8/11
Power: [20 + 5 per torpedo fired]
Location: forward saucer ventral
Firing Arc: self-guided
Torpedoes carried: 80 <8>

TA/T/TS: Class Beta [1 Power/round] <9>
Strength: 8
Bonus: +1
Weapon Skill: 4

Shields (Forward, Aft, Port, Starboard) <50 x 4 = 200>
Shield Generator: Class 3 (protection 500) [50 Power/shield/round]
Shield grid: Type C (50% increase to Protection 750)
Subspace field Distortion Amplifiers: Class Delta (Threshold 167)
Recharging System: Class 1 (45 seconds)
Backup Shield Generators: 4 (1 per shield) <8>
Auto-Destruct System <6>

Auxiliary Spacecraft systems
Shuttlebay(s): Capacity for 12 Size worth of ships <24>
Standard Complement: 4 Shuttlepods and 4 shuttlecrafts
Location(s):
Captains Yacht: none


USS Gage NCC-11672
Class and Type: Gage Class Scout ship
Commissioning Date: 2367

Hull Systems
Size: 6
Length: 320 meters
Beams: 128 meters
Height: 63.4 meters
Decks: 12
Mass: metric tons
SUs Available: 1300 - 2500
SUs Used: 1703

Hull Outer <24>
Hull Inner <24>
Resistance Outer Hull: 8 <9>
Resistance Inner Hull: 8 <9>

Structural Integrity field [1 power/10 Protection/round]
Main: Class 4 (Protection 70/110) <27>
Backup: Class 4 (Protection 40) <14>
Backup: Class 4 (Protection 40) <14>

Personnel Systems
Crew/Passengers/Evac: 250/50/1500
Crew Quarters
Barracks: none
Spartan: 165 <9>
Basic: 90 <9>
Expanded: 30 <6>
Luxury: 15 <15>
Unusual: none

Environmental Systems
Basic Life Support [9 Power/round] <24>
Reserve Life Support [5 Power/round] <12>
Emergency Life Support (36 emergency shelters) <12>
Gravity [3 Power/round] <6>
Consumable: three years’ worth <6>
Food Replicators [6 Power/round] <6>
Industrial Replicators
Type: network of small Replicators [2 Power/round] <6>
Type: one Large unit [Power/replicator/round] <3>
Medical Facilities: 7 (+2) [7 Power/round] <35>
Recreation Facilities: 4 (one main holodeck; two personal holodecks; large eating facilities; two small lounges) [8 Power/round] <32>
Personal Transport: turbolifts; Jefferies tubes [2 Power/round] <18>
Fire Suppression System [1 Power/round when active] <6>
Cargo hold: 30,000 cubic meters <1>
Locations:
Escape Pods <4>
Number: 60
Capacity: 8 persons per pod

Propulsion Systems
Warp Drive Nacelles: Type 6C4<101>
Speed: 6.0/9.0/9.4 [1 Power/.2 warp speed]
PIS: Type H (12 hours of Maximum warp) <16>
Impulse Engine Type: two Class 5 (.7c/.9c) [7/9 Power/round] <25 x 2 = 50>
Location:
Reaction Control System (.025c) [2 Power/ round when in use] <6>

Power Systems
Warp Engine Type: Class 9/O (generates 480 Power/round) <103>
Locations:
Impulse Engine[s]: two Class 5 (generate 40 power/engine/round)
Auxiliary Power: 3 reactors (generate 5 Power/reactor/round) <9>
Emergency Power: Type D (generates 40 Power/round) <40>
EPS: Standard Power flow, +200 Power transfer/round <50>
Standard Usable Power:

Operations systems
Bridge: <30>

Computers
Core: [5 Power/round] <12>
Core: [5 Power/round] <12>
Core: [5 Power/round] <12>
ODN <18>

Navigational Deflector [5 Power/round] <24>
Range: 10/20,000/50,000/150,000
Accuracy: 5/6/8/11
Location:

Sensor Systems
Long-range Sensors [Power/round] <33>
Range package: Type 4 (Accuracy 3/4/7/10)
High Resolution: 5 Light-years 0.5/0.6 – 1.0/1.1 – 3.5/3.6 – 5.0
Low Resolution: 14 Light-years 1.0/1.1 – 3.5/3.6 – 10.0/10.1 – 14.0
Strength Package: Class 7 (strength 7)
Gain Package: Class Alpha (+1)
Coverage: Standard

Lateral Sensors [5 Power/round] <17>
Strength Package: Class 7 (strength 7)
Gain Package: Class Alpha (+1)
Coverage: Standard

Navigational Sensors: [5 Power/round] <16>
Strength Package: Class 7 (strength 7)
Gain Package: Class Alpha (+1)
Probes: 40 <4>
Sensor Skill: 4

Flight Control Systems
Autopilot: Shipboard systems (flight control) 2, Coordination 2 [1 Power/round in use] <8>

Navigational Computer
Main: Class 2 (+1) [1 Power/round] <1>
Backups: 2 <1>

Inertial Damping Field
Main <48>
Strength: 8 [3 Power/round]
Number: 4
Backup <12>
Strength: 5 [2 Power/round]
Number: 4
Attitude Control [2 Power/round] <2>

Communications Systems
Type: Class 7 [2 Power/round] <14>
Strength: 7
Security: -4
Emergency Communications: [2 Power/round] <1>

Tractor Beams
Emitter: Class Gamma [3 Power/Strength used/round] <9 x 2 = 18>
Accuracy: 4//7/10
Location: Aft and forward

Emitter: Class Alpha [3 Power/Strength used/round] <3>
Accuracy: 5/6/8/11
Lactation: hanger bay

Transporters
Type: Personnel [5 Power/use] <14 x 6 = 84>
Pads: 6
Emitter/Receiver Array: Personnel Type 4 (30,000 km range)
Energizing/Transition Coils: Class G (strength 7)
Number and location:

Type: Emergency [7 Power/round] <15 x 6 = 90>
Pads: 22
Emitter/Receiver Array: Emergency Type 2 (10,000 km range)
Energizing/Transition Coils: Class G (strength 7)
Number and location:

Type: Cargo [2 Power/round] <11 x 6 = 66>
Pads: 400 kilograms
Emitter/Receiver Array: Cargo Type (20,000 km range)
Energizing/Transition Coils: Class G (strength 7)
Number and location:

Security Systems Rating: 4 <12>
Anti-Intruder System: Yes [1 Power/round] <6>
Internal Force Field [1 Power/3 Strength] <6>
Science Systems Rating: 2 (+1) [2 Power/round] <16>
Specialized Systems: three designated upon construction <15>
Laboratories: 24 <6>

Tactical Systems
Two Type IX Phaser Arrays <29 x 2 = 58>
Type IX
Damage: 180 [18 Power]
Number of Emitters: 120 (up to 3 shots per round)
Targeting Systems: Class Beta Accuracy 4/5/7/10
Range: 10/30,000/100,000/300,000
Location:
Firing arc: 360 degrees
Firing Modes: standard, pulse, continuous and wide beam

Torpedo Launcher <15 x 2 = 30>
Standard Load: torpedo ( damage), torpedo ( damage)
Spread: 6
Range: 15/300,000/1,000,000/3,500,000
Targeting Systems: Class Beta Accuracy 4/5/7/10
Power: [20 + 5 per torpedo fired]
Location: forward above the navigational dish and one aft
Firing Arc: self-guided
Torpedoes carried: 150 <15>

TA/T/TS: Class Beta [1 Power/round] <9>
Strength: 8
Bonus: +1
Weapon Skill: 4

Shields (Forward, Aft, Port, Starboard) <60 x 4 = 240>
Shield Generator: Class 4 (protection 750) [75 Power/shield/round]
Shield grid: Type C (50% increase to 1125 Protection)
Subspace field Distortion Amplifiers: Class Epsilon (Threshold 250)
Recharging System: Class 1 (45 seconds)
Backup Shield Generators: 4 (1 per shield) <8>
Auto-Destruct System <6>

Auxiliary Spacecraft systems
Shuttlebay(s): Capacity for 22 Size worth of ships <44>
Standard Complement: 6 Shuttlepods and 8 shuttlecrafts
Location(s):
Captains Yacht: none