Is the Nebula class superior to the Galaxy?

[Chris OFarrell]

I'll also point out, in case it hasn't been pointed out, that the Nebula could also change its *saucer* section, not just the pod. We've seen Nebulas with a much smaller saucer, and Nebulas that were actually equipped with a GCS saucer.

That at least would put a greater degree of commonality with the GCS component wise.

[Captain Seafort]

^ B'rels are scouts. Virtually every BoP in filmed Star Trek is of that or a similar class. K'Vorts are the cruisers that look identical for some reason.

Actually, I checked the Wiki, and AFAIK in neither episode was the class of the BoPs established. Keep in mind that the two different class names have been used to refer to the same footage before, so it's not like it's easy to tell.

Call them what you will - my point is that the ships attacking the Vor'cha were the big TNG-era ones, 300+ m long, and the ones attacking the Galor were the smaller Bounty/DS9 type - 100-ish m long. If they were doing about the same damage that clearly shows that the Vor'cha is a lot tougher.

[Imperial Overlord]

Call them what you will - my point is that the ships attacking the Vor'cha were the big TNG-era ones, 300+ m long, and the ones attacking the Galor were the smaller Bounty/DS9 type - 100-ish m long. If they were doing about the same damage that clearly shows that the Vor'cha is a lot tougher.

Add to that the Galor was running through hostile territory during a state of war and the Vor'cha in question was parked peacefully over the Klingon homeworld and taken by surprise. Not to mention the little detail that the Cardassians were warned that the Klingons were coming (albeit at the last minute, but they did get their military on alert) and were rolled up overnight.

[Batman]

I'll also point out, in case it hasn't been pointed out, that the Nebula could also change its *saucer* section, not just the pod. We've seen Nebulas with a much smaller saucer, and Nebulas that were actually equipped with a GCS saucer.
That at least would put a greater degree of commonality with the GCS component wise.

Do you have episode references for that? Every Nebula I remember had the 'standard GCS saucer/directly glued-on GCS engineering hull/inverted GCS Warp nacelles, add mission module' design.
Or are we simply talking about the exact same layout only smaller, like the different size identical looking Birds of Prey?

[Bounty]

I'll also point out, in case it hasn't been pointed out, that the Nebula could also change its *saucer* section, not just the pod. We've seen Nebulas with a much smaller saucer, and Nebulas that were actually equipped with a GCS saucer.

That at least would put a greater degree of commonality with the GCS component wise.

In that case I'd doubt it's interchangeability; those sound like design variants, much like the various Miranda subtypes and barely-changed-but-it's-another-class malarkey.

[Chris OFarrell]

I could be wrong about the Nebula I'll freely concede, but I distinct remember that the saucer on the Phoenix from 'The Wounded' was a similar, but different type to the GCS saucer/saucer on later Nebulas such as that one that chased down the Prometheus in 'Message in a Bottle'.

On that line of thought though, the fact that the GCS Saucer on a Nebula has the main hanger bay so utterly blocked by the 'neck' superstructure suggests to me that THAT particular saucer really wasn't designed or even redesigned for the 'Nebula', as such, at all. And it was just a case of Starfleet building a LOT more saucer sections for the GCS then Stardrives (which containing most of the primary systems are probably a lot more expensive to build) so Starfleet issued a spec for a 'cheaper' drive section to mate with the saucer (hence the Nebula) and it was so successful, they went into full production alongside the Galaxy, ala the Constitution/Miranda arrangement.

[Prometheus Unbound]

The Cardassians in DS9 always struck me as having inferior ships to the Federation, but about as many of them, and a much smaller territory to defend and launch attacks from. Considering their peerless intelligence service and effective tactics, they are a bit of a threat.

It's been a while since I've seen it, but in the DS9 episode "Defiant", there's the following from Kira:

"Let's say you can disable or even destroy those three ships ahead of us. But fighting them at all is going to slow us down and then those ten ships back there will catch up to us. And not even the Defiant can win against those odds."

Emphasis is Kira's.

The way she says it, it's like it wont be too difficult to destroy the first 3 cardassian ships (Galor class).

I would also agree that the Cardassians generally seem to have inferior ships, one on one, to the Federation. Granted the Defiant was state of the art but it was a small ship with limited power. Powerful for its size, but not invincible by any means.

[Prometheus Unbound]

I could be wrong about the Nebula I'll freely concede, but I distinct remember that the saucer on the Phoenix from 'The Wounded' was a similar, but different type to the GCS saucer/saucer on later Nebulas such as that one that chased down the Prometheus in 'Message in a Bottle'.

The model was built to allow it, if that helps.