BoBW nit?

[Lt. Staplic]

true, though the increased shielding there due to the warp core, as you suggested could explain some of it.

[Captain Seafort]

However, that area of the hull should already have been badly weakened - the Borg targeted the same area during their first attack on the E-D, while they were trying to capture Picard.

[Sionnach Glic]

Given that we've no real explaination as to why they'd use a weaker beam, I'd guess at the armour in that area slowing them down. Perhaps with help from the SIF fields.

[Lt. Staplic]

well, they might be using a weaker beam as a kind of "Stop what your doing" message. From Locutus' own dialogue we get that the Borg want him to be on the Enterprise and to act as their speaker there. If they kill him, they loose their speeker and will have to get another one (not hard I know, but the borg like to use as little resources as possible.)

[Aaron]

Perhaps there simply wasn't anything critical in that area.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

Perhaps there simply wasn't anything critical in that area.

if that were the case, why would the Borg target it (by now they know the layout of the E-D)?

[Aaron]

if that were the case, why would the Borg target it (by now they know the layout of the E-D)?

*shrug* Why did they rip that section out of the saucer?

Or to rephrase the statement, perhaps they didn't hit anything important, the Borg aren't infallible. It certainly didn't seem to do much.

[Mark]

It seems when the went after the saucer they wanted to "sample" what the Federation had to offer. When the E-D had Locutus, and Data started playing with the Collective, THAT posed a clear and real danger. Thus with Picards knowledge, they targeted the most effective spot on the ship (to them), being the warp core. The only reason that the ship didn't go up HAD to be reinforcing via armor or SIFs.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

It seems when the went after the saucer they wanted to "sample" what the Federation had to offer. When the E-D had Locutus, and Data started playing with the Collective, THAT posed a clear and real danger. Thus with Picards knowledge, they targeted the most effective spot on the ship (to them), being the warp core. The only reason that the ship didn't go up HAD to be reinforcing via armor or SIFs.

Though if that were their aim, given that they would know via Picard that the engineering hull is armored, you'd think they would use a stronger beam, no? As others have said, that was a fairly long time to have a Trek energy weapon striking an unshielded hull and there was scant damage; it seems that the disparity between the ease with which the Borg carved the E-D like a roast in Q Who and the events in BoBW is pretty stark - a pretty big leap to explain away.

[Lighthawk]

It was an unrealistically long time to have any sort of weapon hitting an unshielded area, reenforcements and SIF regardless. Hell, we saw in DS9, during Siskos flash backs of the Wolf battle, the cube blow fully shielded ships to pieces in seconds. Anyone else remember that one ship having half it's saucer section melted right through, took no time at all.

Then again, maybe the galaxy class just have crazy armor around the engineering section. The Ent sure took a lot of hits in Generations unshielded. I guess with a warp core as prone to failure as they had, they wanted to keep it safe.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

I guess with a warp core as prone to failure as they had, they wanted to keep it safe.

Must be it.

[Mark]

It was an unrealistically long time to have any sort of weapon hitting an unshielded area, reenforcements and SIF regardless. Hell, we saw in DS9, during Siskos flash backs of the Wolf battle, the cube blow fully shielded ships to pieces in seconds. Anyone else remember that one ship having half it's saucer section melted right through, took no time at all.

Then again, maybe the galaxy class just have crazy armor around the engineering section. The Ent sure took a lot of hits in Generations unshielded. I guess with a warp core as prone to failure as they had, they wanted to keep it safe.

That is NOT an absurd idea. Especially since they were designed for long term and range galaxy exploration missions WITH families. And that IS the half of the ship that is SUPPOSED to go into combat.

[Sionnach Glic]

We've neither seen nor heard anything about how well protected the warp core is from external attack, and most of the time we see it go up is due to a malfunction in the core itself. I've no problem assuming the existence of heavy armour and perhaps low-level shielding around Main Engineering. It'd make sense, certainly. IIRC, modern nuclear reactors on aircraft carriers and subs are heavily armoured, and they don't go up like fireworks when scratched.

Another possibility is that the Borg may have simply been worn down by the fleet at Wolf 359. Their power reserves may have been depleted, leading to a weaker beam.

[Mark]

I just came up with another nit.

The Klingons were sending warships, but we never saw any Klingon debris, or any of the ships during flashbacks. What happened to them? Didn't they get there in time?

[Sionnach Glic]

Probably weren't quick enough.