The Siege of AR-558

Written: 2000.07.10
Last revised: 2000.07.27

Dominion Objective: Retake a communications relay which had been captured by Federation troops. Five months of repeated Jem'Hadar attacks had failed to dislodge them, and one final assault was attempted before Federation reinforcements could arrive.

Enemy Assets:

  1. A Federation ground unit, originally commanded by a full captain and totalling 150 foot soldiers.

Friendly Assets:

  1. Cloaked anti-personnel mines which were apparently laid at the array before it was captured.

  2. A ground base, and many dozens of soldiers (perhaps as many as a hundred).

History:

How could the Empire have succeeded where the Dominion failed? We might imagine the following tactics:

Flip side: how would an Imperial ground unit have fared in place of the Federation troops?

Conclusion: The Empire's use of combined arms and their cavalier attitude toward chemical weapons would give them the edge on either side of this battle, and the Federation's moral objections to chemical warfare would prove to be their undoing in ground combat. As for the Jem'Hadar, their failure underscores serious weaknesses and suggests that their reputation may be somewhat exaggerated. I would give the Empire 2 for 2 in this battle.