Borg Tactics to take over the Alpha Quadrant

[Baffalo]

Alright, this kinda bugged me when I thought about it, and I'm hoping someone might explain.

The center Borg is a Klingon, which you'll note from the cranial ridges. This means that the Borg, have at some point, assimilated a group of Klingons. That means the Borg have possibly come into contact with cloaking technology, something the Federation does not use due to the Treaty of Algeron. Now, given that the Klingons never signed such an agreement, that means the Borg could have possibly obtained the device and then mounted it aboard a Cube or even a Sphere. Should this happen, it's possible that the Borg could slip past long-range sensors and arrive in Federation territory without being detected, giving them numerous options. Should the Borg attack Earth, the Federation would have little to no chance to mount an emergency defense fleet, as we saw them do in VOY: Endgame. By the time reinforcements arrived, the Borg could possibly have landed drones and begun assimilating the planet, meaning the Federation would need to destroy the cube and then deal with any drones on the ground. And that's just one cube. Should the Borg wise up and send multiple ships, each armed with cloak, there'd be no stopping them.

Now, let's assume that the Borg do not have the cloak. How would they go about obtaining it? I'd either send a cube or several spheres into Klingon or Romulan territory, though from the way the encounters usually go, I believe that both may be on the other side of the Federation from the Borg. But at the same time, the Borg have transwarp, and could possibly send forces all the way to the other side of the two respective empires. Their goals would be to try and attack any world with a shipyard or take a ship and assimilate it. The goal is to get their hands on a working cloaking device. A shipyard would be better because it's possible to beam onto an empty ship, where a Klingon ship with a crew might put up resistance and even self-destruct. Once they have the cloaking device, they analyze it as fast as possible, then transmit the information back to the Delta Quadrant. The goal is simple: Get the technology. All other goals are secondary. If the Klingons can be assimilated, go for it, but that cloak has numerous uses beyond just the conquest of the Federation.

[Stofsk]

Klingons and romulans probably figure that letting the borg assimilate any of their ships risks letting cloak technology fall into their hands. For all we know they have standing orders to self-destruct or perform a suicide ram to prevent this from occurring.

The other thing is that the borg have been around for ages. It's entirely possible they may already have cloak technology or assimilated it from another race, but either don't use it for whatever reason (possibly because cubes are too big and powerful for a cloak to shield it from sensors entirely, or for psychological reasons i.e. they want other races to detect their cubes and intercept them in order to investigate) or use it in specialised roles/ships (like the tiny scout ships we hear about).

Or the borg are stupid herp derp

[Eframepilot]

As shown in "Endgame", the Borg had a transwarp corridor that ended 1 light year from Earth that led to a hub with at least 47 Borg cubes, and yet the Borg never bothered to attack Earth by this simple method. Either they thought that even their surprise advantage and superior numbers would be worthless, or they just didn't feel like attacking. Really, the Borg didn't need tactics with their numbers, firepower, and transwarp strategic advantage. There is no good reason for why they didn't launch a full scale assault.

[Baffalo]

A thought struck me as I was putting some clothes on to wash. What if the reason the Borg do not simply conquer the Federation because the Federation offers them a unique opponent that they're trying to contemplate and understand? Most species the Borg encounter are mundane, not very interesting and quite honestly don't offer much. Humans, at first glance, don't either. As the Queen put it herself, they're not very strong, not very biologically redundant, and not very interesting. But yet somehow, they have one of the largest civilizations in the galaxy, are creative enough to devise weapons and technology that can counter the Borg, and unite most species they come into contact with under a single banner. I imagine the Borg treat this like a unique puzzle, a billion piece puzzle amid a sea of thousand piece puzzles. Sure, a Cube can knock around an entire fleet, but the minds are there, full of potential, that the Borg can tap into time and again. Rather than plunder the entire prize, let them fight back, let them engage you. Adapt to them, and you can overpower almost any opponent. When they get too powerful, simply send in the fleet and assimilate them all. It's a wonderful opportunity to adapt to weapons other cultures are years away from developing, making the conquest of others around the Borg that much easier. And having a transwarp conduit only a lightyear from earth means that the second they become a major threat, they can be crushed. Easily.

[Srelex]

Though non-canon, I think the Destiny novel series tries to cover this.

[Stofsk]

^ Yeah but I've read the plot synopsis for those books and it reads like really bad fanfic. The borg stop 'assimilation' and go for outright mass murder genocide. Half of starfleet ends up being destroyed, tens or hundreds of billions of people get wiped out, and at the end of it all it's still a deus ex machina that solves everything.

[JME2]

^ Yeah but I've read the plot synopsis for those books and it reads like really bad fanfic. The borg stop 'assimilation' and go for outright mass murder genocide. Half of starfleet ends up being destroyed, tens or hundreds of billions of people get wiped out, and at the end of it all it's still a deus ex machina that solves everything.

Agreed - though the fallout has left the Alpha and Beta Quadrants in an interesting predicament with the advent of the Typhon Pact.

[mr friendly guy]

Does Klingon cloak even mask transwarp signatures. Because Star Fleet can still scramble to intercept a transwarp aperture, as seen in VOY : Endgame. So there might not be much point to use such a cloak, moreover if a cloak ship comes out it will have its shields down and vulnerable to a hit if the UFP Admiral is competent and just orders a saturation of the area, either first with probing tachyons or with weapons.

[FedRebel]

As shown in "Endgame", the Borg had a transwarp corridor that ended 1 light year from Earth that led to a hub with at least 47 Borg cubes, and yet the Borg never bothered to attack Earth by this simple method. Either they thought that even their surprise advantage and superior numbers would be worthless, or they just didn't feel like attacking. Really, the Borg didn't need tactics with their numbers, firepower, and transwarp strategic advantage. There is no good reason for why they didn't launch a full scale assault.

I think the Borg are "farming"

They probe the "cattle" (one cube) so that the species of interest develops to a point where they are far more attractive to assimilate, then just 'Hub' in with a dozen cubes with next to no notice.

Of course this ignores ST:FC

As for the "assimilation virus" in VOY, I've personally thought that 7 of 9 was a Queen in training (Borg "Princess" for lack of a better term.) and the "virus" schtick (and all the other fun) was a test of her character. (the Borg essentially 'let' her go as part of a greater test of her character in preparation for her assuming the position, of course that didn't 'work' so the collective had to rehire Alice Krige.)

[Grumman]

I think the Borg are "farming"
...
Of course this ignores ST:FC

I guess the handwave there would be that the Borg decided Earth's role in hardening the Alpha and Beta quadrants was more trouble than the improved yield was worth. Getting rid of Federation-era Earth might lose you the Federation, but it gains you the Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, Vulcans, Andorians... basically everyone within arms' reach of the Federation whose assimilation they might fight to stop.

[Stark]

As for the "assimilation virus" in VOY, I've personally thought that 7 of 9 was a Queen in training (Borg "Princess" for lack of a better term.) and the "virus" schtick (and all the other fun) was a test of her character. (the Borg essentially 'let' her go as part of a greater test of her character in preparation for her assuming the position, of course that didn't 'work' so the collective had to rehire Alice Krige.)

This is the best weak rationalisation ever.

Its pretty sad that if they'd stuck to their original plan of just eat planets from the outside in, they'd have done much better. Flip a few planets, get more infrastructure than one ship, more targets than one ship, throw everyone into moral confusion etc, no need to test the character of your cyberprincess.

[Solauren]

I've always thought that the Borg figured out that a Q likes humanity (they did assimilate Pichard after all), and are dicking with humanity as a way of dicking with the Q without putting themselves into a position where the Q decided to stomp the Borg.

[Baffalo]

I've always thought that the Borg figured out that a Q likes humanity (they did assimilate Pichard after all), and are dicking with humanity as a way of dicking with the Q without putting themselves into a position where the Q decided to stomp the Borg.

Could you elaborate a bit more on this please? I don't see any evidence that the Borg are aware of Q.

[spaceviking]

Q did make the statement to Q junior "Do not provoke the borg". So clearly they have had some contact.

[aussiemuscle308]

I've always thought that the Borg figured out that a Q likes humanity (they did assimilate Pichard after all), and are dicking with humanity as a way of dicking with the Q without putting themselves into a position where the Q decided to stomp the Borg.

i always assumed that was what piqued the borg's interest in humans, seeing the enterprise simply disappear (at Q's hand) they may have thought we were more advanced. i can't really put FC into that explanation.

[PREDATOR490]

Would be fairly logical the Borg have knowledge of the Q either from direct contact or indirect information gained through assimilation.
This is how the Borg gained access to the information on the Omega Particle and Seven knew about it over the rest of the crew. The Borg learned about it from assimilating Federation captains thus... one would conclude assimilating Picard would yield information about Q AND raiding the ship's memory banks would do the same.

Both of which were done to the E-D. The former on the first encounter with Q standing right there - Depending on wether or not he is somehow using a cloak to hide himself from them or the latter in BOBW with the very first action of the Borg being the assimilation of Picard and directly hunting the E-D.

The Borg knew about the Federation long before the E-D every encountered them - Thanks Voyager
The Borg launched an attack long before the E-D was hurled at them - Thanks TNG

Additionally, we only have Q's word the cube he hurled the E-D infront of was going to assimilate Earth / Federation. There is no indication WHEN that assimilation would occur or if it was really a priority.
The Borg demonstrated the ability to cross the galaxy before the E-D encountered them which would logically mean the Borg could have had a cube on Earth's doorstep far quicker than anything we saw.

Either the Borg decided to send that Cube on a long ass trip for no reason or Earth was not that big a priority UNTIL Q pulled his stunt and instantly got their attention.

We also have to thank Enterprise for adding the extra factor of that signal that was sent.

[Baffalo]

Not so sure about the whole Enterprise thing... to be honest, I've seen it treated as if FC caused a timeline split similar to the one seen in Star Trek (2009), meaning that the actions of the crew in FC only affected that timeline. It would explain a few things, and would neatly tie in how the technology got really advanced when the Jellyfish and the Narada went back in time. Knowing technology is possible makes it a lot easier, since you know it must exist and therefor have a goal in mind.

No, what I believe is that the original cube encountered by the Ent-D WAS on its way to Earth but only because they'd assimilated the crew of a ship that knew of Earth as a powerful center of culture and technology, which would perk any Borg's attention. The events of FC caused a new timeline to begin, one where Cochran knew of powerful future ships and was able to get an idea of how to refine cloak from the things he overheard and saw after the crew of the Ent-E left. That let him develop the Warp 5 engine quicker, making the Federation more powerful. However, the events from FC came back to bite Earth in the ass when the Borg sent a message to the Delta Quadrant, alerting the Borg there that hey, something's up, there's Borg way the hell over here. They end up encountering an even MORE advanced Federation, which also has goodies like Red Matter now that can create black holes and such. The ability to kick serious Borg ass means they get more tech from the Borg and it goes into the Narada, making it a big son of a bitch.

We can see evidence of the advanced engines and such from the way ships changed shape from the original way we viewed them. If ENT was to be the beginning of a new timeline with more advanced tech, that's why the bridge of the Enterprise we saw in Star Trek (2009) was so radically different. They had newer, more advanced tech because Cochran and the others had a template for how a starship could be built, and so they helped steer designs in that direction.

[pte chib]

I would just send in covert assimulater drones to start the process you do not need many and you miss the dangers of battle and overt action

[Baffalo]

I would just send in covert assimulater drones to start the process you do not need many and you miss the dangers of battle and overt action

I think we addressed this on another thread regarding sending cloaked missiles into Federation space to wipe out colonies. It sounds good on paper, but that just isn't the Borg's style. Considering the force mustered just for the single Cube that came at Earth, there would be an immediate response to any incursion by the Borg. Besides, assuming you conquered a planet, you now have no way of transporting off the planet without a ship. There are too many worlds in Federation space to do this, and it would take too long. I imagine each colony has a transmitter, and in the event of an attack, they send an alert to Starfleet. Even if they don't get the alert off, failure to report in will alert someone that there's a problem, and a starship will get involved. Borg adaptation or no, it'd take some serious effort to withstand an assault from orbit.

[RedImperator]

I would just send in covert assimulater drones to start the process you do not need many and you miss the dangers of battle and overt action

Before future-Janeway destroyed their transwarp hub, the Borg had a direct outlet to the Sol system. They could have sent an arbitrary number of cubes directly to Earth with no warning. They had no need to fool with Bond villain plans to assimilate Earth.

"How could the Borg assimilate Earth?" is not an interesting question. "Why didn't they?" is the interesting question. Unfortunately, there isn't much to work with to answer it. I mean, dramatically, I'm OK with the Borg having their own motives that aren't immediately obvious, but it makes for pretty thin discussion.

[Darth Fanboy]

Is it possible that the Borg believe with major powers such as the UP that if they strike too hard too fast they will then encounter a le el of resistance which then makes the campaign, in their opinion, not worth the cost of doing so? Especially when they seem to have very little capable resistance in the Delta Quadrant?

[RedImperator]

Is it possible that the Borg believe with major powers such as the UP that if they strike too hard too fast they will then encounter a le el of resistance which then makes the campaign, in their opinion, not worth the cost of doing so? Especially when they seem to have very little capable resistance in the Delta Quadrant?

I don't know if that makes sense. The Federation threw everything it could at both cubes that went after Earth--it's been rehashed to death on this board, but if the Borg send 2 cubes in First Contact, the movie's over after 30 minutes (I think the first draft of the script actually had the Borg send hundreds of cubes, but Starfleet's anti-Borg technology was actually effective and hundreds had been destroyed; I'm actually pretty glad FC didn't go this way).

Really, FC makes it hard to come up with any sensible motivation for the Borg without just throwing up your hands and saying "it's all some machination that makes sense to them".

[Stofsk]

There was an interesting theory posited before in another thread where this topic came up. Basically, the borg are kind of 'harvesting' humanity or the Federation because they already know they're technologically advanced, so they keep them around free from assimilation but using their ingenuity to come up with clever ways to defeat the borg.

It kinda neatly explains why only one borg cube was sent after 'QWho' (they must have scratched their heads and wondered how the Enterprise saved itself from their tractor beam and hurled itself thousands of light years away; that could have made the borg pause and go 'do these guys have shit that could fuck us if we get too cavalier?'); why the only sent one cube in FC (again same principle as before, the borg may not know what exactly the Federation has, and their last cube did blow up because of one android that could link into their network); why they bothered with an alliance with Voyager against Specie 8472 (where we see borg assimilation/adaptation has hard limits when faced with something truly bizarre and unknown, but something which those plucky humans can counter in an afternoon).

It's not a perfect rationalisation, and I am positively certain that it's not something the writers ever fucking thought about, but it's one of those ways of looking at this in a new way IMO.

[KhorneFlakes]

There's also a theory around that Hugh's return to the Borg Collective fucked them up and caused them to act in stupid and strange fashions, and that First Contact's appearance of the Borg Queen was a sign of how much stuff he ruined

[Darth Fanboy]

Is it possible that the Borg believe with major powers such as the UP that if they strike too hard too fast they will then encounter a le el of resistance which then makes the campaign, in their opinion, not worth the cost of doing so? Especially when they seem to have very little capable resistance in the Delta Quadrant?

I don't know if that makes sense. The Federation threw everything it could at both cubes that went after Earth--it's been rehashed to death on this board, but if the Borg send 2 cubes in First Contact, the movie's over after 30 minutes (I think the first draft of the script actually had the Borg send hundreds of cubes, but Starfleet's anti-Borg technology was actually effective and hundreds had been destroyed; I'm actually pretty glad FC didn't go this way).

Really, FC makes it hard to come up with any sensible motivation for the Borg without just throwing up your hands and saying "it's all some machination that makes sense to them".

If the goal is more than just Earth, if its the entire AQ/BQ, then a full scale attack on Earth puts the Klingon, Romulans, Cardassians, and other species completely on the defensive and more difficult to conquer. There don't seem to be many large factions in their home territory, so the idea would be that they are building up to launch a simultaneous strike all at once. It