Enterprise E in Combat (Warning: SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN NEMESIS)
Captain Anderson brought up an interesting point about the Enterprise E's climactic battle with the Scimitar. He was disappointed by the end battle because he felt that the Enterprise E should not have been punked out by the Scimitar, when it stood up so well against the Borg Cube in First Contact.
I offer a couple of explanations as to why the Enterprise E did get the lower hand in NEMESIS.
1. In First Contact, the Enterprise E was fresh into the fight. The Borg cube was preoccupied with the currently attacking ships, having only a moment or two to attempt to focus on the new arrival. Also, Picard had inside knowledge on where to strike a Borg Cube. Not to mention, the Enterprise was constructed in advanced designs that the Borg had not seen yet.
Granted, the newer ASDB ships were there (Akira, Steamrunner), but the Enterprise was the creme de la creme of ASDB. As for the Defiant, well, it obviously did not perform as well against the Borg cube as the ASDB had anticipated.
2. The Scimitar knocked out the Enterprise's warp drive on its first attacks, thereby effectively depriving Enterprise of perhaps two thirds of its combat power, relying solely on Impulse Power.
Not to mention that the Enterprise did not have much of a tactical assessment beyond Worf's initial scans. (Myriad disruptor and torpedo banks, Primary and Secondary shields.) Now, the Remans had been utilized in the Dominion War, with Shinzon in command of various campaigns. It is very possible that he had seen the performance of Quantum Torpedoes first hand, and was thus able to create effective countermeasures against them. Not to mention that the Scimitar was able to fire with the cloaking device on....thus making it difficult for Enterprise to lock onto it. (Hmmm....perhaps he was able to recover secret archived plans to General Chang's prototype Bird of Prey in ST VI). For all intents and purposes, the Enterprise was definitely caught with its britches down.
Consider too, that in Insurrection, the Enterprise was fighting in the Briar Patch, which seemed to affect improperly configured ships attempting to travel at higher impulse velocities. Apparently, the Briar Patch also affected their photon torpedo sensors.
Basically the Enterprise is a damn good combat vessel, as long as it's had plenty of time to prepare, and can act in a timely manner. When it gets caught blind....well, we've seen the consequences....the Enterprise has to sacrifice something to win. Whether it be a warp core, or 30% of its saucer section.
Any other takers?
Respectfully,
General Chang
"So the Enterprise is on her maiden voyage, eh? Now that is one well endowed lady. Ah'd like to get mah hands on her ample nacelles, if ye'll pardon the bit o' engineerin' parlance." -Scotty, STAR TREK, 2009