Deepcrush wrote:Hardly a problem since it only takes one person per ship to open fire. The rest will have plenty of time to rotate watch and even for R&R on the station next to them.
The defenders are not going to be able to keep their weapons at full readiness 24/7. They will need to perform maintenance, system checks, let alone the constant wear on the equipment from being at permanent readiness.
Deepcrush wrote:Sure, if they did this they would lose 10 ships per kill... at least 20 defenders of unknown types outside of the Defiant. Then the station... if that would mean the Dominion would lose 300 ships before getting through and thats only if the defenders for some reason decided not to reinforce their lines. Again, not really a wise move for the attacker.
There is only one way to remove a fixed point of defense from a fix point of attack. That is through vastly superior numbers and firepower.
I'd accept 300 ship losses if I was the Dominion. I'd accept 600, if it means I had control over the wormhole. The Dominion has the superior numbers to handle those losses. The Bugs are expendable, as are the Jem'Hadar. During the Dominion War the Klingons had ~1500 ships to fight the Cardominion forces, and were described as outnumbered 20:1. That tells me I could lose 3000 ships and still come out ahead by controlling the wormhole. That is my goal, and losing expendable ships is acceptable.
Now losing those ships effectively is another matter. If I can keep the defenders unable to relax, as at any time my ships could come through, and they are unable to keep their ships at combat readiness, then I can wear them down one at a time. Basically use the Bugs as intelligent antishipping missiles.
kostmayer wrote:How exactly did Sisko evolve into a strategic expert? He wasn't even a Captain when he took over the station, looking to get out as soon as possible.
Was he picked to lead the war effort specifically because he was a bit gung ho? Starfleet did drag their heels in deciding to mine the wormhole (which must have put their war effort back a fair way). And I got the impression he had to do some pestering to persuade Starfleet to retake DS9 (before they learned the mines were about to be disabled).
What would have been nice is Dax running tactical and strategic simulations for Sisko, and finding a pattern in the results. Show that Sisko has an obvious improvement in effectiveness when the simulation puts him in the Bajor system. This links his being the Emissary (aka touched by the Prophets) to being a Starfleet officer. He is able to 'predict' critical moments in the simulations, and get better results.
I.e. have Dax show two simulations, everything else identical, and the simulation on Bajor is where Sisko gets better performance. This is a case where Sisko runs the Bajor simulation first, then the regular. Critical decisions he made in the battle on Bajor that were right, he doesn't make in the regular sim.
Dax presents the data to the Federation strategic planning council, showing an observable, verifiable, and repeatable improvement in combat effectiveness for Sisko, and all personnel under his command. As a result, Sisko gets put in charge of more forces. He may fight the Defiant as its Captain, but if he tells a force to assume a certain formation, it is for their own good. He could order a wing of damaged ships along a certain vector that appears to make them look vulnerable, the Dominion turns to pursue, and that puts the Dominion force into a perfect position for late Kingon arrivals to slaughter them, allowing the wounded ships to get away.
