What if the Romulans Escaped the Balance of Terror A Star Trek Fan Production

Star Trek: What if the Romulans Escaped the Balance of Terror video was made in Blender3.21. I based this off the Star Trek TOS episode the Balance of Terror.
Muisc:
Surrounded
By: Hayden Folker
Epic Boss Battle
By: Juhani Junkala
Epic Cinematic Dramatic Music Tragedy
By: Alex Productions
Curse
By: Mehul Sharma

[@Eshanas]

A tos era fleet battle? Yes please!

[@pex_the_unalivedrunk6785]

Closest they came to that was when the M5 computer went crazy and started killing all the other ships in the war games...I still feel bad for all the cute dead skirts who died on the Excalibur. 😢 Noo...Baae! 😭😭😭 Edit: episode "The Ultimate Computer"

[@nickmitsialis]

@@pex_the_unalivedrunk6785 well, make of this what you will, but in SNW, Capt Pike helped trigger a war with the Romulans for some reason (perhaps he was TOO diplomatic, while Kirk was willing to press for the kill?)

[@eddieschwab864]

Stiles was right, "They'll be back sir not just one ship but with EVERYTHING they have."

[@KManXPressTheU]

Lt. Styles: You run from the Romulans, You guarantee War; They won't be back with One Ship, but with Everything They've got.

[@braderickson9996]

I love these Wednesday surprises. 43 hours of battle? A good old knock down drag out space battle. The starship graveyard this created would have been massive.

[@DojhromTRW]

I would suspect a massive Federation salvage operation, this would hurt the Romulans in the long run as enough components would be salvaged to reproduce or analyze Romulan technology. D-7s being present would hurt the Klingons. Would be an epic timeline.

[@ExiledPiasa]

Loads of parts for a Federation reserve fleet of “Frankinships”. 😋

[@jimstanga6390]

⁠Romulan hardware and weapons secrets… not to mention the cloaking device. Praetor paid a big price for this act of Hubris…

[@calanon534]

@@ExiledPiasa Considering the main classes of ships during this time were all based on the _Constitution_ spaceframe, it'd be kinda hard to tell. I mean, if they can salvage enough ship parts and sections, they can probably stitch a lot of the damaged ships back together. Modularity was a key component of this ship generation, as seen by how relatively easy they are to "upgrade." If anything, as long as the M/AM reactors and certain key structural components are intact, they could simply rebuild the majority of them into their "advanced" variants pretty easily. Leftover parts can be used to make several "last generation tech" one-offs relegated to patrol duties, or handed over to the local defense forces of key Federation governments like the Andorians, Tellarites, Vulcans and so on. Given that the _Saladin-class_ destroyers and _Hermes-class_ frigates are basically _Constitution_ saucers and necks with a single nacelle tacked on the bottom, I can see at least a few "modified variants" being made with the leftover parts and recommissioned as new ships specifically for this purpose.

[@OrionSlaveGirlUWU]

So this is the war that Captain Pike causes by avoiding his radiation accident.

[@CowboyRobot2000]

What a selfish bastard!

[@pwc7475]

Any CGI with the original ship design catches my attention, i only had 3 years of her in the late 60's. Well done!

[@acebrandon3522]

Totally Epic, wonderfully mastered and nicely done. Thank-You for allowing us to have a full TOS battle on a grand scale. This is me experiencing TREKSPACIA. 🤩

[@leighrate]

I suspect the Federation's next problem would be the Klingons. They might perceive a window of opportunity.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

And side with the weaker side, to counterbslance the potentialy more dangerous one.

[@smiller3995]

The organians put a stopper to Klingon aggression by sending the crews back to qronos and blowing up their ships essentially screwing a lot of great houses of the investment ruining the reputation and bankrupting of house duras

[@9-5-VictorVictor-2]

The Miranda Class flipping upside down and flying underneath another Miranda Class which is right side up reminded me of when the Enterprise NX-01 did the same thing with the Columbia NX-02. Very 😎😎😎.

[@Carter602]

The Columbia class retrofit was an amazing surprise! ❤

[@FusionAero]

"A shame Captain, It would have been glorious! Great period Federation models, the Ajax and Hermes/Saladin from Axanar, the proto-Reliant Miranda class and even a TOS timeline Kelvin. Although many have conjectured that the events of BOT are what caused the Romulans to treat with the Kligons out of need for a bigger, faster boat, that has never been explicitly stated and they may have had a deal in the works already.

[@dexoearth9167]

This was really cool! Especially with the DS9 callbacks. Please make a sequel with the Phase II Enterprise fighting the Romulans.

[@ralphreinhardt6020]

Awesome especially the pack of 3 Constitution class starships. Totally laying waste to the Romulan D-7 variants. Hope to see a sequel with the Phase II Enterprise.

[@trevormillar1576]

What happened to the Romulans' Ultimate Weapon, the plasma cannon we saw in Balance of Terror?

[@sakunysz]

Probably scrapped. Too tactically limited.

[@mjmoran3rd]

Well, for arguments sake, if the original ship escaped, it would report that the weapon is indeed powerful but limited in combat against a moving target. JMO.

[@calanon534]

@@mjmoran3rd This. The Romulan High Command probably considered it too impractical at this point. Depending, of course, on what exactly transpired between the Enterprise and the Romulan ship in the first place.

[@toddwatson7381]

Also, perhaps the plasma weapon was just a prototype.

[@nortzman01]

As I recall, they also determined that phaser fire weakened the torpedo in flight. That, coupled with its slow speed would probably make it of little worth as a dynamic weapon. However, damage a bunch of enemy ships and line up the shot, it would be an effective 'clean up' weapon

[@christophermosier3754]

I liked the phase 2 design of the Enterprise better than what we got in the movies...great job

[@PhilDrury]

Brilliantly done, with some nice reworking of some Abrams ships into proper TOS. I really love what you did with the Phase II design, as well. The only thing is it's completely unrealistic to even consider the possibility that Jim Kirk would have screwed up in such a way that the Romulans escaped :p

[@95DarkFire]

I love seeing the combination of TOS, Kelvin and ENT ships. It shows the evolution of Starfleet!

[@Brandon_85]

I’d love to see a part 2. I’d love to see the Phase 2 Enterprise in action.

[@ericmadsen7470]

Wonderful work Robb. These what if stories are great. It shows what could have happened if.

[@psibet900]

Excellent work at all levels. Thank you for allowing us to see the wonder of your efforts.

[@johnmogavero8156]

Love the aft torpedo on the refit Connie !!

[@SpaceNazi62]

Very nice. Always liked the Phase2 design. I build plastic models and customized a Phase2 USS HORNET👍🏻

[@wjckc79]

The maneuver at 5:28 - brilliant.

[@captaingeneroddenberry8439]

Well done yet again this time an epic battle fleet of both federation ships and romulan warships in the 2260's fighting and seeing the refit phase II ship. Cannot wait for part 2.

[@alberttetley]

that was simply incredible

[@stevenewman1393]

🖖😎👍Very cool and very greatly well done indeed in every way shape and detail provided, and very nicely executed in every way provided as well, loved all the various different types of ships as well as the launching of the phase 2 Constitution class, would be great if you could add in an Dreadnought class as well next time. The battle scenes were spectacular indeed 👌.

[@rameseXII4153]

What's this? Alternative trek history, but done right? Also I love the Dominion War references. It was a very nice touch :)

[@Analog_Mind47]

Love the various TOS era starfleet designs

[@vinceburgess9012]

Really enjoyed your work. Everything about this. The music and the visuals. Thanks for sharing!

[@blockmasterscott]

Man, this reminded me of Starfleet Battles that I used to play in the late 70s and early 80s.

[@ToEuropa]

Great game, though I preferred FASA's Starship Combat Tactical Simulator game. Both were great fun, letting us fight the battles of our dreams. It was glorious.

[@that_dave_show]

It would've been epic if Styles' prediction was playing as the Romulan ships were approaching Outpost 5.

[@robgyanisu312]

I have a better question: What would've happened if the Romulan commander _surrenderef_ instead committing suicide via his vessel's self-destruction?

[@comentedonakeyboard]

Section 31 denies categorically that this ever happened. Or that the ship is hidden in a rivermouth in Virginia. And that Ramius Diner is a front for anything, other then Baltic fish dishes. And most of all we deny the very existence of section 31.

[@CowboyRobot2000]

He and Kirk would've went on to become the greatest bromance in history while Spock would leave Starfleet after the 1st five year mission and return to Vulcan to continue his meditations.

[@ianmitchell4231]

Very nicely laid out.

[@Ronald006]

Excellent work i really enjoyed watching and hope there is more to come the detail on the enterprise was really nice. 100/100

[@emperorsean1]

This battle was awesome. Would love to see you animated an entire star trek fan made episode.

[@scotthayes4135]

Like Styles said in the episode. If you run away from the Romulans they'll be back. Not just one ship but with everything they've got.

[@TU-CGI]

This was so epic!!

[@DannieGemz]

That a NX retrofit i spotted in the fed fleet there or the original Yorktown from enterprise era ? either way really good effort and well appreciated !!

[@richardched6085]

Incredible!

[@ExiledPiasa]

Frak’n sweet! Love the sacrifice of angles take. And the Phase II was cool. Can’t wait to see more! I might have a couple of ideas for you. Keep up the great work 👍🫡

[@calanon534]

Saratoga never catches a break, does she? 5:11 - Who ya gonna call?

[@dougc190]

That was excellent. Now it's time for the federation to get those Romulus bastards.

[@Mr_Sovik]

I enjoyed watching the VFX, especially the faithful _Constitution_ -class model. Some of the shots echoed DS9 and _Axanar_ , which was interesting. The bussard collectors are beautifully rendered, which is quite challenging in Blender, and I would be interested in learning how you simulated them. Thank you for making space black. It's very realistic and does not detract from the ships, which should be the "stars" of the show. It seems somewhat ridiculous saying it, but modern visual science-fiction has some obsession with making the backgrounds as noisy and as colourful as possible, regardless of if it is appropriate that region of space or if makes the foreground more difficult to discern. Unfortunately, I am concerned that the story is not a reasonable development of what is established in TOS. If the bird of prey employed in TOS: _Balance of Terror_ was successful, then the experimental plasma torpedo weapon would be proven to be practical and so the Romulans would not need to convert their ships to use the more conventional weaponry we see by the time of TOS: _The Deadly Years_ . Furthermore, within _Balance of Terror_ , we are shown that the plasma torpedo is very effective against stationary targets; capable of destroying the border outposts in a few shots. However, if the intention was to show that the Romulans only succeeded in _Balance of Terror_ because of using conventional weaponry, this would work for the story, but could have been better-communicated. The dating of the Romulan-Klingon alliance is canonically uncertain, but I assumed, and I think "beta"-canon supports that it was a response to the failures of their experimental cloaking and torpedo technology. With cloaked ships being too simply detected, and plasma torpedoes being ineffective against moving targets, the Romulans realised that their advancements were not competitive on the "galactic stage" and resorted to utilising Klingon technology. If the Romulans succeeded in _Balance of Terror_ , there would be no motivation for them to ally with the Klingons. However, we might also assume that they were only successful in this timeline because of a pre-existing Klingon alliance. I am unconvinced by the large number of starships docked to Starbase 343, and by its unusually large number. In TOS, the largest referenced starbase number was 200, and even that was anomalous when compared to the other referenced starbases, which ranged between 2 and 27. Of interest is starbase 10, established to be located near the Romulan Neutral Zone in _The Deadly Years_ . In TOS, it is suggested that there are only twelve ships like the _Enterprise_ . I am personally unconvinced by this, and there are even some canonical suggestions of more ships within TOS (See @WeTravelbyNight 's well-researched video on the subject.) Yet with even an increased fleet size, it seems slightly unlikely that so many large ships would be docked to one starbase at this time - some other smaller starship classes would be interesting. In the fleet battle, the Romulans are not exercising their main advantage, which is their cloaking device. In _Balance of Terror_ , it is unclear if this works while travelling superluminally, or even if the Romulans have such capability, but if Starfleet can not track their enemy, they are forced to divide their fleet to protected what they deem likely targets of value. The Romulans should be able to use this to concentrate their forces on a lesser-defended target. The _Constitution_ -class is a powerful starship, and significantly larger than the Romulan contemporaries. The Romulans could easily avoid such starships entirely, or at least outnumber them and leave the area without enemy reinforcements knowing where they went, restarting the game of dividing the fleet to protect valuable targets.

[@sacruze63]

Well thought out. Top notch visuals. Please continue additional videos.

[@robertallen5531]

Must have a sequel. Awesome!!!

[@toddwatson7381]

Very much enjoyed the production!! Excellent choice of soundtrack! Great visuals!! Well done!!! Thank you for the amazing show!!!

[@twentysevenlitres]

Excellent! 43 hours is a bit of a stretch though! As the battle took place in Federation Space, the Federation gets hold of multiple D7's and Birds of Prey to study Cloaking and Weaponry...

[@kinsmed]

Beautiful presentation. I have captured 5 stills for my screensaver folder of hundreds of Trek stills. I will probably lift the end music for my Mp3 instrumental collection as well. Kudos.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

And it all looked so promising for our pointi eared friends. Perhaps the next time(line)

[@starclone4]

Super video... Please make more !!!!

[@luiszuluaga6575]

Really well done. Thank you for all the amazing work you put into this production. 💪

[@forrestpenrod2294]

I love the TOS style Kelvin Timeline ships! They look soo good in the 60s style.

[@rickkephartactual7706]

That was outstanding, thank you for releasing it.

[@stltrekmodels.4157]

Seriously as a 3D Blender modeler, and a 3D printer: this is great work.

[@DasGav]

@4:44 classic Galaxy class shot!

[@zshah3107]

We could have this in TOS!

[@theodorehaverson5079]

With the Romulan invasion, all past treaties would be null and void. It would make sense that Starfleet would scavenge the Romulan ships for tech and start using a cloaking device on their own ships, thus providing further strength in attack or defense and it would be the Romulan's fault!

[@brianknapp6215]

1:26 "The Romulans are now using Klingon design.."

[@leonardbharrisjr.1810]

Totally awesome! I loved it 👍🏽

[@joeswanson733]

you know it's bad when you got to pull out the nx refits for fleet actions lol

[@ozelhassan8576]

Incredible actually, well done there. ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨🖖🏽✅👌

[@SpockBorg5]

Way more entertaining than any jar jar Abrams universe trek

[@sharonec5419]

Looks really good and all. The Romulans would never just attack like that for no reason do and some of the ships would not be there either like the Katinga class for instance. But I take it this is an alternate Universe with the blue phaser and all lol.

[@karlmajerus6263]

Great job, like to see more

[@brianpeterson5559]

Very cool Thanks for your efforts 🖖very good 👍

[@thomasbarca9297]

If they did this on strange new worlds I’d squeal like a little child

[@philipx2]

Glad I found this. Very well done. Can you make a short vid based on ship and ppl recovery after a battle? Never been done.

[@Bill23799]

That was awesome! Thank you.

[@ricgillingham8056]

Yes this episode is 🥰 very well made 👏

[@Fabian-Wenzel]

The Starfleet salvage ships will have a lot of work to do in their post-battle salvage operations. All the scrap metal will have to be removed and recycled, and the fallen Starfleet officers and any survivors in shelters in the shipwrecks will have to be rescued.

[@mattmilsop4003]

I love yoru work! Keep it up!

[@alexandretiberiuskirk3392]

Well I wouldn't be that optimistic. This looked like a "Birth of the Federation" scenario. Considering that one Romulan Bird of Prey was able to go toe to toe with the Enterprise, and the deciding factor was the Captain I'd say Starfleet would be wiped out. Even though they say in TOS that the constitution is a state of the arc starship ("I see where Starfleet is dropping its pennies" was a bad and out of lore, the Discovery should have been an old ship and the Enterprise the great weapon). However I do agree, this scenario would push Starfleet to upgrade faster, one of the few things Jar Jar Abrams did right and confirmed by the fact Q introduced the Borg sooner in orther to make Starfleet go back to upgrading their weapons and stop assuming they were at the peak.

[@darrensmith6999]

Great Work Sir Thank you (:

[@alanb8884]

As the Federation takes the offensive into Romulans territory, sowing rebellion amongst subject races..

[@user-ec5bo8tx4n]

Superb music!

[@stratfordbaby]

5:09 Peter Venkman from Ghostbusters....

[@borisbrain]

Nicely done : )

[@coloradoing9172]

Really great work! Did you 3D model everything yourself?

[@MrRmcconnell]

Yes in Blender

[@knytrydr73]

I love a good "What if..?" story! Will there be more?

[@andrewkapplin1138]

I loved the TOS warbird and the D-7. Immediately identifiable. Question: What’s the ship in the background at 3:44?

[@DeaconBlu]

Great video. Thank You!

[@juanvilches530]

Muy. Muy. Bueno, gracias

[@kurtb8474]

Another Star Trek space battle. *yawn." Looks so much similar to every Star Wars final battle.

[@patrickradcliffe3837]

I'm sensing Secret of Vulcans Fury cinematic files here.

[@Argent377]

Beautiful!

[@Nohan1967]

Well done!

[@balventray]

Awesome epic

[@pex_the_unalivedrunk6785]

Captain Kirk: we stole a Romulan cloaking device and successfully installed it on our constitution class starship! Starfleet: that goes against our regulations and the Geneva convention... uninstall the cloaking device! Enterprise with M5 computer AND cloak installed: F all you idiots... I'm about to end this whole galaxy's career!

[@dfwald4657]

No plasma weapon? Big thing left out that could have totally changed the battle in their favor along with some cloaking. They didn't have the Klingon ship designs then also.

[@veedubya4636]

Well done!!

[@sydneysmith1521]

Very good 😁

[@donnasuelove416]

Nicely done. Kudos. One question: were those Klingon Battle Cruisers or did the Romulan's have something like that before the Birds of Prey seen in Next Gen?

[@M_J_Glide_22]

Epic, Epic. Epic....very well done I should say.

[@darrensmith6999]

Nice one i like it (:

[@domG]

Amazing! Epic

[@thefurrybastard1964]

The Romulans didn't have D-7s during the time of the Balance of Terror episode. It wasn't until just before the Enterprise Incident eposide that they were acquired from the Klignons. Still, good video.

[@anothergoogleuser]

Very cool concept; however, you did not include the main weapon the Romulans had. It was a huge, red, glowing plasma ball that had incredible range. They would de-cloak, fire, then cloak.

[@GregoryMCMAHON817]

So awesome.

[@morlockmeat]

Very cool!

[@Red-rl1xx]

Terrific!