Grand Nagus Tain

[Mikey]

The fact remains that the E-D crew scanned a Ferengi "D'Kora" class and pronounced it to be an equal of their own GCS. The problem with an assessment isn't the strength of the ship; it's that we have no conception of numbers, or whether those numbers represent a military force or a bunch of mercenary privateers.

[Bryan Moore]

I'd think the Ferengi would just hire others to fight their wars for them. Pay the Breen, Tholians, or whoever.

[Sionnach Glic]

Aye, I can see them using mercs.

[Granitehewer]

leck was a merc/eliminator, there might be a substantial number of such ferengi manning the fleets.....

[Granitehewer]

i like it when Picard called the marauder 'a very impressive design'...if only he'd known at that point that the crew were hapless goblins......

[Bryan Moore]

Aye, I can see them using mercs.

While not canon, we did see this in the Destiny book, and it honestly makes sense. While the D'Kora is meant to be intimidating, I don't see Ferengi ground troops being to effective (To anyone about to comment on the Federation ground troops, STFU! ) but I do see the little guys being smart enough to know they're not effective.

[Mikey]

We've seen them hire non-Ferengi bodyguards/nose-twisters, so it's not much of a stretch.

[Mark]

But we've seen VERY LIMITED glimpses of Ferengi ships in combat. Just a few shots exchanges IIRC.

[Sionnach Glic]

Was'nt one Ferengi ship capable of posing a threat to the E-D?

In any case, it's not the power of their ships that would be a problem in any war they were involved. It's their lack of unity.

[Mark]

Very true. Do the Ferengi even have a "military" per se? Or just random ships?

[Sionnach Glic]

Unknown.

My personal opinion on the matter is that the Ferengi don't have a standing military per se, but instead rent out armed ships to captains who act as privateers and mercs for them.

[Captain Seafort]

Was'nt one Ferengi ship capable of posing a threat to the E-D?

In any case, it's not the power of their ships that would be a problem in any war they were involved. It's their lack of unity.

Indeed - in terms of firepower and mobility a D'Kora appears to be at least the equal of a GCS. The key issues would be a) how good their defences are, b) how many of them there are, and c) how good their command structure is.

[Mikey]

Was'nt one Ferengi ship capable of posing a threat to the E-D?

In any case, it's not the power of their ships that would be a problem in any war they were involved. It's their lack of unity.

Yes. The E-D crew considered a Ferengi "D'Kora" (per DITL naming,) upon first sighting, to be a credible threat. As to the military, it seems that each DaiMon either owns his vessel or operates under some sort of letter of marque, albeit extending to capitalist ventures as well as piracy.

[Sionnach Glic]

That's what I was thinking of. The government rents out these ships to wealthy captains, and effectively uses them as privateers.

[Mikey]

Yep, although vessel ownership is described as both a possibility and a goal for Ferengi. Further, it doesn't seem that the government even mandates the usage of ships - we've seen plenty of Ferengi DaiMons using their vessels for their own aims, and the only thought of retribution from the government was when the vessels were used for un-Ferengi, non-profitable goals.