Borg Tactics to take over the Alpha Quadrant

[Baffalo]

Something I find a little odd about the Borg designations is that they're incredibly short and don't give much detail. Tertiary Adjunct of a group of 9 inside a vast central complex doing... what? Are they sub-processors for the Queen? Are they personal body-guards? Are they somehow unique for these roles? Hugh was simply designated 3 of 5. Why? Were there only 5 total Borg aboard this ship? I know that due to the size of the Collective that listing off their entire designation would take a long time, but if you asked a modern soldier his assignment, he'd list his company and battalion. So why so short on information?

The reason I mention this is because we don't know a lot of information regarding the Borg. Do they have a complex hierarchy that distributes key functions among several unique individual Queens? Is there a single Queen that commands the entire Collective? Are there Queens for such mundane tasks as being assaigned tasks based on their importance? If the latter is to be believed, then the Queen we met in First Contact wasn't the overarching Queen, but rather a specifically chosen mission commander sent to adapt to anything the Federation threw at them, in the hopes of succeeding.

[the atom]

The reason both for the queen's 'three-dimensional' statement to Picard in FC and also for Voyager finding ex-drones in the DQ that were assimilated at Wolf 359 is that there were actually two Battles of Wolf 359. The first one involved the Borg taking time to assimilate each ship as it attacked, which dragged things out long enough for the Klingons and the Enterprise to arrive in time and destroy the cube. But, just before the cube was destroyed, it launched a sphere that went back in time to just before the battle and warned the incoming cube to not waste time assimilating and just destroy all the ships as they attacked. This is the battle we see in the pilot of DS9.

So they grew another Locutus on the cube in the hours preceding this fight just for the occasion, and it's really ex-Borg-Clone Picard we've been dealing with ever since? Methinks you haven't quite thought your brilliant idea all the way through.

I should also point out that the 'Stop First Contact' objective for the Borg was their backup plan in FC; the Borg probably know better than to casually muck about with the timeline.
However, I also think that FC created an alternate timeline; Cochrane's exposure to the time traveling TNG crew combined with the wreckage of the Borg sphere led to technology advancing more swiftly in this timeline, explaining the more advanced look of technology in 'Enterprise' and the new movie, which originally followed the 'Enterprise' timeline but then diverged again after the Narada's arrival, which again spurred faster technological development.

Critical point: Nobody knew anything about any Borg or any sphere wreckage until the mid 22nd century when those researchers were assimilated by those drones that they chipped out of the ice like a bad parody of The Thing.

[aussiemuscle308]

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,.

Weren't the initial borg attacks along the romulan neutral zone? and they blamed the romulans?

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,.

i guess that corridor was 'new'

[Grumman]

The Borg claim to want to bring perfection to all species but if that were true the Borg should have overrun the Delta Quadrant ages ago.

Faced with the task of fixing a Talaxian or Kazon, they ran into an impasse.

Hugh was simply designated 3 of 5. Why? Were there only 5 total Borg aboard this ship?

Out of context guess: the "five" is not the number of drones in the unit, it is the unit's identifying number. So you'd have One of One, Two of One, Three of One, and so on, then start on One of Two, Two of Two...

[EnterpriseSovereign]

The Borg claim to want to bring perfection to all species but if that were true the Borg should have overrun the Delta Quadrant ages ago.

Faced with the task of fixing a Talaxian or Kazon, they ran into an impasse.

Hugh was simply designated 3 of 5. Why? Were there only 5 total Borg aboard this ship?

Out of context guess: the "five" is not the number of drones in the unit, it is the unit's identifying number. So you'd have One of One, Two of One, Three of One, and so on, then start on One of Two, Two of Two...

The events of "Survival Instinct" suggest otherwise, as the other surviving members of Seven's unit were Two, Three and Four of nine, respectively. Those drones did have different functions however, named as Primary Adjunct, Auxiliary Processor, and Secondary Adjunct.

The Borg's assimilation of Romulan colonies would have gained them knowledge of cloaking tech, the reason they didn't go after the Federation in force is because they were on the other side of the Galaxy, in order to properly assimilate them and defend their new conquests from attack from other AQ powers (from all sides) they'd need to send dozens, if not hundreds of cubes. It's more reasonable to assume the Borg would be preoccupied with assimilating races closer to home than suddenly reaching across the galaxy.

[Purple]

The Borg claim to want to bring perfection to all species but if that were true the Borg should have overrun the Delta Quadrant ages ago.

Faced with the task of fixing a Talaxian or Kazon, they ran into an impasse.

Hugh was simply designated 3 of 5. Why? Were there only 5 total Borg aboard this ship?

Out of context guess: the "five" is not the number of drones in the unit, it is the unit's identifying number. So you'd have One of One, Two of One, Three of One, and so on, then start on One of Two, Two of Two...

The events of "Survival Instinct" suggest otherwise, as the other surviving members of Seven's unit were Two, Three and Four of nine, respectively. Those drones did have different functions however, named as Primary Adjunct, Auxiliary Processor, and Secondary Adjunct.

How does that suggest otherwise? His concept was that the second number is the unit number and the first number is the number of the drone in said unit. So drone 7 of unit 9, or drone 2,3 or 4 of unit 9. It fits perfectly.

[Crazedwraith]

Hugh was simply designated 3 of 5. Why? Were there only 5 total Borg aboard this ship?

Simply put; Yes. There were. It was a tiny scout cube.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

How does that suggest otherwise? His concept was that the second number is the unit number and the first number is the number of the drone in said unit. So drone 7 of unit 9, or drone 2,3 or 4 of unit 9. It fits perfectly.

For that to be true, there has to be at least one drone named with the first number greater than the second- have any been named?

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Hugh was simply designated 3 of 5. Why? Were there only 5 total Borg aboard this ship?

Simply put; Yes. There were. It was a tiny scout cube.

And said cube is supposed to weigh two and a half million tonnes, assuming it's 5x5x5M that works out to 100,000 Tonnes/M^3- the same density as a white dwarf star

[Boeing 757]

Why are so many folks here taking it for granted that the transwarp network had already been established during BoBW? We know that it took them seven months or thereabout to reach Earth in BoBW, and in ST:FC we see them again cruising towards Earth using warp-drive. If they had the transwarp network working then as so many claim, they could have just avoided the hassle of having come under mass attack, and being blown up twice.

The harvesting idea also makes no sense to me in hindsight (despite it sounding cool), if for no other reason that the Borg were exceedingly intent on assimilating Earth and conquering it (heck, when they went back into the past, they achieved that very same goal). This kind of behavior does not jive well with the harvesting theory of the Alpha-Quadrant races. To boot, in "Dark Frontier" the Borg Queen showed plans to 7of9 of a Borg nano-virus that would be employed to assimilate Earth since she clearly admitted that they were unable to do so by previous means. This supports neither the harvesting theory nor does it lend credence to their being able to send hundreds of vessels to the Alpha Quadrant, when doing so would mean easy victory on their behalf.

I wager that the best and most rational conclusion is that the Borg simply have neither the energy resources nor the logistical capacity to send huge fleets of cubes across the Milky Way, using transwarp drives as some Trek fans are fond of claiming. Which is why they send only one cube cruising in on warp drive every few years. The transwarp aperture leading into the Alpha Quadrant seen in the Voyager finale is most likely a recent investment meant to circumvent this limitation which had up till that point not yet been used by the Borg.

[the atom]

To boot, in "Dark Frontier" the Borg Queen showed plans to 7of9 of a Borg nano-virus that would be employed to assimilate Earth since she clearly admitted that they were unable to do so by previous means. This supports neither the harvesting theory nor does it lend credence to their being able to send hundreds of vessels to the Alpha Quadrant, when doing so would mean easy victory on their behalf.

To me this was one of stupidest lines in Voyager. Every Borg incursion into Federation space had Starfleet scrambling and helpless to stop a single vessel before they were saved by a plot device involving the Enterprise. It's plainly obvious the Borg have more then one ship at their disposal, so send two next time. Any resistance would be handily swept aside, and Earth would be assimilated within a day.

What bothers me is that this isn't some obscure detail from some obscure TNG episode from one of the middle seasons, but this is literally the only thing we know about their capabilities relative to the Federation ships period. Anybody who watched First Contact would know this.

[Boeing 757]

To boot, in "Dark Frontier" the Borg Queen showed plans to 7of9 of a Borg nano-virus that would be employed to assimilate Earth since she clearly admitted that they were unable to do so by previous means. This supports neither the harvesting theory nor does it lend credence to their being able to send hundreds of vessels to the Alpha Quadrant, when doing so would mean easy victory on their behalf.

To me this was one of stupidest lines in Voyager. Every Borg incursion into Federation space had Starfleet scrambling and helpless to stop a single vessel before they were saved by a plot device involving the Enterprise. It's plainly obvious the Borg have more then one ship at their disposal, so send two next time. Any resistance would be handily swept aside, and Earth would be assimilated within a day.

What bothers me is that this isn't some obscure detail from some obscure TNG episode from one of the middle seasons, but this is literally the only thing we know about their capabilities relative to the Federation ships period. Anybody who watched First Contact would know this.

We can thank Rick "the dick" Berman and his pal Brannon Braga for that piece of stupidity....

[Optimus Metallus]

The Borg's assimilation of Romulan colonies would have gained them knowledge of cloaking tech, the reason they didn't go after the Federation in force is because they were on the other side of the Galaxy, in order to properly assimilate them and defend their new conquests from attack from other AQ powers (from all sides) they'd need to send dozens, if not hundreds of cubes. It's more reasonable to assume the Borg would be preoccupied with assimilating races closer to home than suddenly reaching across the galaxy.

Why would that be an issue? They very nearly beat down the Federation with a single Borg Cube. Five cubes could probably handle the job of subjugating the majority of the Alpha Quadrant.

[Eframepilot]

Even if the transwarp conduit seen in "Endgame" that led directly to Sector 001 was a very recent construction, the Borg had around 50 cubes next to that transwarp hub that could have launched a full scale assault on the heart of the Federation in minutes. What were they waiting for?

Ultimately the Borg's behavior towards humanity makes zero sense and was obviously poorly thought out by the writers. The best way I can rationalize it is:

The Borg really were experimenting with humanity, as seen with the creation of Locutus, and may have tried to provoke them into becoming stronger in order to obtain better technological distinctiveness.

The time travel in First Contact was a last-ditch attempt to salvage their attack that violated their original plan, possibly out of the Borg Queen's illogical pique. Alternatively it was part of a predestination paradox, since the Borg were aware of a signal sent by themselves in Enterprise's "Regeneration" (IIRC).

The nanovirus project was just a ploy to further subvert Seven and make her into what the Queen intended for Locutus.

It's all just fanwank, of course.

[Singular Intellect]

Even if the transwarp conduit seen in "Endgame" that led directly to Sector 001 was a very recent construction, the Borg had around 50 cubes next to that transwarp hub that could have launched a full scale assault on the heart of the Federation in minutes. What were they waiting for?

The first assault on the Federation by the Borg was a one sided bitchslapping session that was only barely averted by the software hacking plot device. This is hardly a reason to panic and send a fleet in next time.

The second assault was less of a lopsided battle, yet even though Starfleet had a battle hardened fleet and likely significantly larger forces at it's disposal (due to it's war efforts with the Dominion), a single cube still plowed through it and reached Earth's doorstep. Again, more plot device of 'insider information' on Picard's end resulted in combined firepower being enough to generate a chain reaction effect that destroys the cube. Starfleet likely advanced and armed itself significantly faster than the Borg anticipated due to their conflict with the Dominion, hence why this direct assault seemed inadequate in retrospect.

It's after this point that we later learn that the Borg established a transwarp conduit next door to Earth at some point, which we could safely assume was put in place during one of the previous visits by the Borg cubes. This strikes me as a clear signal that Earth and the Federation was in deep shit and the next assault was going to be a virtually no warning large scale invasion that would have steam rolled any resistance.

This doesn't seem to be unusual behavior for the Collective either; there's at least a couple of examples from Voyager episodes establishing the Borg don't immediately rush civilization targets with the intent of wiping them out immediately. The initial assaults could be argued as a means of probing and provoking a civilization to stimulate faster advances and technological capabilities the Borg can then assimilate and incorporate into their own. They are obviously interested advanced technology, and without a doubt the Borg would consider the loss of a ship or two in return from some juicer fruits a little later on a bargain.

Unfortunately for the Borg, they then got into their large scale war with Species 8472, which resulted in massive damages to their entire Collective and indications are they were only months away from defeat. After concluding that issue, they no doubt had a very large amount of recovery and work to do to reestablish their previous state of power. And that would easily be an argument for them pushing the previous plans for assault against the Federation to the back burner for quite some time. From their point of view, the Federation is a puny player on the other side of the galaxy and they have much bigger fish to fry after their devastating war with Species 8472. Assimilate Earth and the Federation later, TV show viewers opinions are irrelevant.

[aussiemuscle308]

Something I find a little odd about the Borg designations is that they're incredibly short and don't give much detail. .

you'd think being logical interconnected beings, they'd use a numbering system (which could have added the line 'i'm a human, not a number" to their debates of being assimilated). it would have helped 'dehumanize' them too.

i find it funny the borg queen is such a ditz. i think she may have been part of the early collective, but was able to take over because of her insanity (and obsession with perfection) that overwhelmed the others.