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GrahamKennedy wrote:Perhaps. But they've certainly never so much as hinted at that. And extending shields around other ships makes them weaker, not stronger.

Extending shields has been shown to be a viable combat tactic in the Voyager episode "Think Tank." I can't think of any other, in universe, rationalization for ships to fly so close together.

Akira Takei wrote:

GrahamKennedy wrote:Perhaps. But they've certainly never so much as hinted at that. And extending shields around other ships makes them weaker, not stronger.

Extending shields has been shown to be a viable combat tactic in the Voyager episode "Think Tank." I can't think of any other, in universe, rationalization for ships to fly so close together.

In Think Tank, the ships attack in pairs and one stays behind the other to reinforce the lead ship's shields. It's lending shield strength to another ship, but it's at the cost of making your own vulnerable. A tactic that can only work if you are facing one enemy on one axis of attack.

It would be suicidal to do it in fleet combat.

Fleet combat needs to be flexible. Can't do that if your ships are linked to another. Ships may need to pull out to reineforce a weakened line somewhere else.

McAvoy wrote:Fleet combat needs to be flexible. Can't do that if your ships are linked to another. Ships may need to pull out to reineforce a weakened line somewhere else.

You could do that by assigning the ships in 2-ship groups. One ship leads, the other follows. The problem is that the pattern will stick out to the opponent, and makes their targeting much easier. The trailing ship will always be within a certain distance of the lead ship, and the extended shields mean it will have weaker defenses. It also means the trailing ship has a giant no-fire zone, o you only have to deal with the weapons from one ship, instead of two.

Two ships like that vs two enemy ships that are free to maneuver mean the enemy ships can get one of them to the side, to open fire on the trailing vessel. If they choose to stay in front, they only have to worry about weapons fire from one of the two ships.

The better strategy is to have a reserve formation, composed of your long-range bombardment vessels, where ships with low shields can return to perform repairs, restore shields, etc.