Have you ever wondered how cool it would be for some of your favorite shows to mix characters across the different networks or franchises?
Way back in the day (WAY back) I always wanted to see Airwolf, Blue Thunder and K.I.T.T. bring it to the bad guys in the same show. Yet whenever a superhero crossover ever happened in the comics, they always seemed to duke it out between themselves first. And this is what I thought of when I saw an inspired idea over on DVICE where they decided to match the technologies of the original U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 up against the Battlestar Galactica in a pitched and heated battle.
Well, a theorized battle, anyway.
However I think the folks over at DVICE might be a little biased. According to them, the Battlestar would come out on top against the Heavy Cruiser. I think they aren’t being fair. A Colonial Battlestar against a Federation Cruiser? I would pitch a Federation Dreadnought against the Battlestar, but that’s just me.
As it is, I’ll work within the framework of what DVICE started from, but still, from my side of things, I think the outcome would be a bit different. I’ll touch on the same points they did and we’ll see where it takes us!
Phasers vs. Kinetic Energy Turrets: DVICE gave the edge to the phaser (Phased Energy Rectification Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) because it could cut through unshielded ships. I agree with that so the first point goes to the Federation.
Enterprise: 1, Galactica: 0.
Photon Torpedoes vs Nukes. The argument is that the Enterprise couldn’t take a nuke hit while the Galactica could take a photon torpedo hit. This one goes to Galactica on DVICE, but then they don’t exactly go into what kind of punch a Photon torpedo can do. Let me.
According to some estimations, a Photon torpedo can pack a 64 megaton punch. According to the Galactica Wiki, Galactica Nukes yield 5 to 150 Kilotons, depending on what is dialed in.
150 kilotons = 625 Joules, and 64 Megatons = ~269 Joules. So the hitting power does go to the Galactica.
Enterprise: 1, Galactica: 1.
Sensors vs Dradis: For some reason, DVICE gave this one to the Dradis on Galactica. Are they kidding? I have to digress here and give the edge to the Enterprise. The Federation sensors can sense when a mouse farts! The Dradis seems to only see ships. Have I missed something. If not, I’m changing their score and giving this tech edge to the Enterprise.
Enterprise: 2, Galactica: 1.
Shuttlecraft vs Vipers: Is this even a comparison? This goes to the Galactica with their fully armed Vipers versus the original series shuttlecraft.
Enterprise: 2, Galactica: 2.
Impulse engines and Warp Drives vs Ion Engines and FTL drives: They argue that the Enterprise is more agile on impulse and warp drives. I tend to agree that the smaller Enterprise can dance all around the Galactica. The Enterprise has varying degrees of Warp speed, while the Galactica is a go / no-go, one speed ship when it comes to light speed travel. But the Galactica’s FTL drives are pretty cool as far as popping in and out of places, including popping out of planet atmospheres during free-fall. (Was that not cool when the Galactica did that free-fall over New Caprica?) But it takes a lot of calculations for the Galactica to pop around and time for the FTL to spin up. I think with all the flitting around the Enterprise can do compared to the Galactica, I’ll agree and give the edge to the Enterprise.
Enterprise: 3, Galactica: 2.
Transporters vs Raptors; Is this even a fair comparison? Enterprise, hands down. They can just beam boarding parties on the Galactica. Heck, they can beam the crews out of the Raptors! In Star Fleet Battles (a board game I played) boarding parties were one of my best tricks once shields were down.
Enterprise: 4, Galactica: 2.
Shields vs Point-Defense Cannons: As far as taking a beating, the Galactica took a nuke hit! The PDC’s can dish out serious suppressive fire while the ship can absorb whatever gets through. The Enterprise takes a shield hit or two and panels spark and people fly! Technically, regardless of the flying bridge crew, I’d think the Enterprise has the edge, though DVICE gave this one to the Galactica. Can PDC’s stop a Phaser? I don’t think so. The Enterprise can stand off and fire at will.
Enterprise: 5, Galactica: 2.
So somehow, in the end DVICE gave this comparison to the Galactica. I want to go into a little reasoning on some things.
They didn’t consider sizes of the two ships though engine comparisons and the weight they push around was touched on:
The Enterprise: Length: 947 feet; Overall Beam(width): 417 feet
The Galactica: Length: 4640 feet; Overall Beam(width): 1821 feet
Being big is great, but sheesh. Enterprise? What Enterprise? You mean that spot on the paint? Ramming speed Galactica! But the small ship would probably be able to dance around the big boy. This is the classic argument of light sword, many hits; heavy sword, one good hit. These size comparisons sure make it seem like the Galactica might be able to dust the little guy but technology always wins out gang.
Of course this whole comparison thing pits the Galactica up against the NCC-1701. This wouldn’t even be a question if they were looking at the 1701-D Galaxy Class from Star Trek: The Next Generation. On the D, the shuttle craft had phasers and photons, didn’t they? On Voyager, Janeway’s shuttle was armed to the teeth. Or how much more punch would a Federation Dreadnought have?
But why would DVICE weigh their scales the way they did? DVICE is part of the network with the Sci Fi Wire and the Sci-Fi Channel… so ya gotta take this comparison with a grain of salt and have fun with it. FUN, I say.
In the aspect of fun, let’s look at a few other things:
Society: If we start looking at some of the intricacies, Starfleet personnel have a rather organized society. The Galactica fleet really have their heads frakked up right now because their destined goal of humanity’s salvation, Earth, was a wasteland. Oops. They’d probably just give up!
Captain Kirk Vs Admiral Adama: Kirk would have Spock baffle Adama with calculations of probabilities of their outcome while Kirk would end up making out with No. 6, or Sharon or whatever warm blooded woman on the Galactica he could snag and go about his day. Meanwhile, Adama might get Athena to plug into the Enterprise and send it to the “edge of the galaxy”… again.
The fun of it all: In the end, these kinds of comparisons are for fun and could endlessly go on as we think of other shows we could pit against each other. Rather than pitting all of Star Trek against Battlestar Galactica, or against Babylon 5, or what ever franchise we like, I say we stack all the good guys from all the shows on one side, give The Hulk a space suit and see how that works out for everyone!
Speaking of cross-overs, I remember a comic book where the classic Enterprise encountered who I think was a member of Marvel’s Kree race. The panels were fun to go through. Sulu tells Kirk that sensors are picking up a man outside the ship. Kirk confusedly asks what he’s doing. Sulu says he looks like he’s going to punch the ship. Suddenly the bridge staff go flying when the Kree decks the ship. I loved that scene but I just don’t have the time to dig through my garage sized collection of comics to verify it was the Kree. If anyone can help me remember, that would be cool.
Basically, in the end, I say we line up all the good guys vs all the bad guys from the different sci-fi shows and have a massive crossover. That would really mess with all the legal teams!
Are there any team-ups, or face-offs you’d like to see? Let us know.
Sources: DVICE, Stardestroyer.net, Sideview images: ship schemantics.net, st-minutia.com, wolf’s shipyard; ex astris scientia; Image (almost to scale) overlays by Bruce Simmons
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If you are talking capability vs what they would actually do, that changes things.
Example…. Prime directive.
Kirk would observe and take off.
If you throw out the rules of the army you are describing, then you are opening a can of worms.
If I were in command of the Enterprise I would violate treaties and fabricate a cloaking device . I would shoot on over to the BSG uncloak and beam all of Bsgs crew into open space .. Game over.
encase any of you are confused. Fed ships do not have a cloaking device because of a treaty. Not because they cannot build/use one.
P.s. It was Gladiator from the Shiar empire that punched the Enterprise .
He dented the hull and caused the inertial dampers to fail.Mind you shields were down.
Defiant has a cloaking Device
If you go by canon …. Boba fetts ship could take out the entire federation. You have to look at the power output.
Do not take my word for it . Go to stardestroyer.net (if it is still around)
Check out the starwars vs star trek section. It will blow your mind.
besides the fact that Starfleet does not appear to have anything akin to Jedi.
You will surrender …. I will surrender.
R2 hack into their central computer and have control of the central computer changed to me .
Good.
Now use this ship to do the same thing to the entire Starfleet.
(anybody remember Khan??)
Prefix code. Order reliant to lower her shields.
Food for thought.
Lastly … some of the people here are crossing generations.
Kirks ship was not as self sufficient as Pecards.
Vulcans would be probaly immune to the force and Betazoids would mess up the minds of the Jedi, conflicting them with Dark & Light in their heads (till they go POP!)
How about you compare the 1977 BSG? That would be closer to the 1967 Enterprise…
YES, Yes, Yes
I think the galactica would win, yes it is far more basic butthe point derfense would de-stabilise phasers with the shock and debris, 1 nuke in the right place and the USS Enterprise ( even the D ) would sustain immense damage, the FTL also gives the galactica a suprise element, it can leave and enter with no way of telling where it went to or came from, it could use this to surprise the enterprise, the vipers could also be overwhelming, the galactica is far tougher too due to its single piece design ( the enterprise is rather flimsy looking, especialy the constelation class variant ) these taken into account and size, id say the galactica has a good chance against the constelation class and a mediumish chance against the galaxy class.
All the “facts” that we use to judge the capabilities of these ships can only be based on what the respective TV shows say and demonstrate about them. I prefer the TOS Enterprise as the basis for my “facts”. The design of the Enterprise would seem flimsy by real engineering standards, but this isn’t real anyway and the show portrays the ship as being very sturdy indeed. Both ships suffered a close range nuclear explosion with somewhat severe consequences to the Galactica which was on fire and had to vent itself to “save” the ship. The Enterprise suffered no such damage, but some radiation injuries near the outer parts of the ship to the crew.
Here’s how it would go.
Adama: After launch, jump your raptor behind the Enterprise and fire your nuke. Then bring it on home.
Bye bye, Kirk. Adama doesn’t have any computer networks to hack, and he isn’t interested in your gloating or drama. He is a real soldier, versed in real warfare against opponents with superior numbers, technology, and firepower. You only have 1/3.
You guys keep forgetting, or just don’t know, that a nuke will do almost no damage to the old TOS Enterprise even if it exploded 100 meters away. In one, or two, different TOS episodes, a nukes did just that and didn’t even scratch the ship! It just tossed it around a little, but no serious damage. So, the Raptor launches it’s nuke jumps away and fails to even dent the Enterprise. Enterprise sensors pick up the Galactica far beyond their sensor range and fire phasers and photons from such a great distance that the Galactica doesn’t even know what’s happening to it. In the old TOS, Enterprise fights at warp speeds which according to the old Star Trek Maps could be any where from the speed of light to over one million times the speed of light depending on the region of space. The movies and later TV shows always show the two ships close enough to see each other with the naked eye, but the original show often showed the ships too far to be seen, but still fighting. Based on that, Enterprise can out run, out maneuver, pack a much much much bigger single salvo punch and take an enormous hit without much damage. The episode “Balance of Terror” shows the Enterprise taking a point blank nuke to the face, and a Romulan plasma torpedo capable of destroying a Federation base located over one mile deep inside a solid iron asteroid. Which brings that point up! One Romulan Warbird with a plasma torpedo could vaporize the Galactica with a single shot.
No one would win, The Federation would absorb the Colonials into their community and return them to Earth. Federation scientists would then examine Colonial tech and modify it for their own use. Galactica would be improved and enhanced and the Federation would finally get the idea to start building Carriers. And a Viper squadron would be standard equipment on every Federation ship.
Then the Cylon hunt begins.
This comparison would be a a whole lot better if they went with the original series Battlestars. If that was the case, I think TOS Galactica could take on and win against the enterprise or Enterprise-D.
Remember TOS Galactica had energy shields and weapons. I also believe that TOS Battlestars could take on Star destroyers.
Now thats a fight i wanna see.
No match. One hit from a photon torpedo = Galatica is history and they won’t even get through Enterprise’s shields, let alone make a scratch.
The Enterprise ALONE could defeat the combineded forces of the cyclons and colonials (before the attack) even with Wesley Crusher in command.
Their weapons would be useless. Like an real apache indian trying to shoot down a helicopter Apache with a few arrows.
Haven ‘t even talked about the transporter. Even before Galatica could come in weapon range Enterprise could beam aboard 10000 tribbles.
Bart is correct the author makes a serious math error on the nukes vs photon torpedoes. The photon torpedoes deliver 433 times the impact of a Galactica nuke. Kilotons are thousands of tons and megatons are millions of tons. Plus they can be fired at warp speed which will not be detected by the Galactica until they hit. The vipers won’t even come into play nor will any of the Galacticas other weapons. The Enterprise’s ability to scan from afar and the use of transporter technology means that the original Enterprise (Kirk’s version) would easily defeat the latest version of the battlestar. Remember the Galatica series essentially does not interact with other alien species. Its about the 12 colonies vs a race of machines they created. The Federation encompasses hundreds of worlds and a starship is the culmination of the efforts of Federation technology.
Actually, I see it going down this way:
Kirk encounters Galactica leading the ragtag fugitive fleet of defenseless civilian ships to colonize Earth, and hails them to break the bad news that Earth’s tightly-controlled ecology won’t permit the establishment of a colony of roughly 50,000 refugees. Adama offers to allow Enterprise to park inside Galactica’s port flight pod while they negotiate. Kirk is starting to explain that Enterprise can’t land but can beam Adama aboard to discuss finding an uninhabited planet or 12 for the colonials, when suddenly a Cylon Base Star jumps in and starts launching raiders and missiles at the civlians, Galactica, and Enterprise.
Kirk, supremely confident in the superiority of his technology, tells Adama to stand by while he deals with this threat. Shields go up, phasers lock on dozens of missiles at once, and highly-detailed sensor sweeps reveal the base star’s structural weaknesses, likely control systems, engines, manpower, etc, all the while the civilian fleet is busy jumping to a remote location for safety per standard orders. Kirk gives the order to fire, and bright orange beams of intense energy leap from one missile to the next, detonating them all long before they can hit any targets. Then he orders Chekov to target the enemy fighters.
One of the raiders opens its eye slit and begins broadcasting. Just like that, Enterprise goes dark. All systems operated by interlinked computers aboard her (that is to say, everything right down to the gravity plating in the floors) ceases to function. The phasers are gone. The shields are gone. The photon torpedoes are stuck in the tubes. Mr. Spock can’t get anything but gibberish out of the computers. Scotty is straining his legacy as a miracle worker just keeping the magnetic bottle between the matter and antimatter pods from collapsing.
Enterprise is helpless. Adama orders the Galactica to position its broadest cross-section between the Starfleet flagship and the Base Star, launches all vipers, and defends his new potential ally with all the slug-throwers his massive low-tech ship can bring to bear.
You forget. The Cylons were only able to disable the Colonial ships because they had all their secrets from the Colonial Defense Mainframe. They knew colonial tech like the back of their machine hands. Federation tech is totally alien to them and they probably couldn’t affect the Enterprise computers with their dis-abler beam. Besides, the Enterprise comes with Microsoft Security Essentials for Starships, 23rd Century Edition! This software wouldn’t recognize the Cylon software and would prompt Mr. Spock for permission to be run.;) Then Mr. Spock would analyze the software and come up with a way to turn it against the Cylons and start turning them off and defeat the whole Cylon race in one fell swoop! Except, the Prime Directive would prevent him from doing that because the Cylons would be considered a new form of life and so on and so forth. The Feds would try to send a peace envoy to negotiate a cease fire and so on and so forth…
And so on and so forth. Etcetera, et al, ad absurdum.
Permission to be run? That’s Linux. I thought you said the Federation used Microsoft.
Kirk gave a squat about the Prime Directive when his ship and crew were threatened. Picard…well, to Picard the Prime Directive was about non-involvement, not non-interference. He’d probably hail the Cylons and ask them to pause their assault while he and his senior staff went to the briefing room to argue the finer points for several hours, and then order saucer separation, putting Wesley in command of the saucer, and then fall back to inform the fleet.
Personally, I just think Kirk would have been tickled to have been addressed as “Enterprise Actual”.
And so on, and so on.
They had some missions in which they and the Enterprise were considered expendable.