Bridge Crew Stations During Combat

[Stan]

I'm working on a Star Trek homebrew RPG and I want space combat to closely imitate the Original Series starship combat vibe. 

Question: What role did each person on the Enterprise bridge crew have during starship combat? And what 'consoles' or stations were they at? See below for the Enterprise bridge schematics created by Tobias Weinmann which can be viewed at www.cygnus-x1.net

Here's my 1st attempt:

• Commanding Officer: Kirk (station #13 -- Commanding Officer)
• First Officer: Spock (station #9 -- Science)
• Chief Engineer: Scotty (station #1 -- Engineering (usually controls this function from Engineering instead))
  
• Chief Medical Officer: McCoy (no bridge station, usually controls this function from Sick Bay)
  
• Tactical: Chekov (station #11 -- Navigation)
  
• Helmsman / Conn: Sulu (station #12 -- Helm)
  
• Comm Officer: Uhura (station #10 -- Communications)

Stations 1-3 are often unmanned and controlled from Engineering.

Stations 6-8 were often manned by 'extras'.

Is this all correct?

[Stan]

Regarding stations 1-3 (Engineering, Environment, and Auxiliary Systems) according to the licensed (but non-canon) Haines manual:

The stations on the other side of the turbolift, relating to engineering and environmental systems, weren’t always manned during routine operations, their functions being primarily controlled from main engineering

[Falconer]

A lot to dig into here, stan. What I will say for now is that Spock mans his science station as Science Officer. The First Officer can be at any station, as we saw from “The Cage” (the first officer was the Helmsman).

Second, take a look at The Lucanii Drift, you won’t regret it on many levels. But for one thing it has a system for what everyone does in combat.

[Stan]

Dec 2, 2020 23:39:24 GMT -5 Falconer said:

A lot to dig into here, stan. What I will say for now is that Spock mans his science station as Science Officer. The First Officer can be at any station, as we saw from “The Cage” (the first officer was the Helmsman).

Second, take a look at The Lucanii Drift, you won’t regret it on many levels. But for one thing it has a system for what everyone does in combat.

I just bought it and am reading it now -- thanks for the suggestion!

-- Stan

[Falconer]

I’ll have to watch the show more carefully, but I could swear Spock spends about as much time at 8 as at 9. I think Scotty is at 1 as often as not (when he’s not in 13), but there is often someone else there. Spock and McCoy so often stand behind 13 to the right and left that I wonder if those aren’t formal First Officer and Chief Medical Officer stations.

[blackbat242]

I remember a few episodes where there were a couple of crew at some or all of 1-3 - usually to take the brunt of an explosion in their console.

[c57d]

I personally consider Chekov as purely a navigator in TOS, and only going to a tactical role in the movies.
If anything, in TOS, Sulu is more tactical as well as helmsman.
Also, twice in TOS (Doomsday Machine and Dagger of the Mind) security are by the bridge turbo lift doors. My personal opinion is that we should see them there more often ??

[Falconer]

Yeah, I was going to say I’m sure I’ve seen security guards stationed there on more than one occasion, but I couldn’t remember if that was just in Mirror, Mirror. But now that I think about it, it would be kind of strange for there to be a permanent security presence on the bridge. Not that it would be completely impractical, considering how often aliens transport directly onto the bridge in the show. But in general it seems to me that Starfleet wanted to avoid paranoia as much as possible. Constant security presence and surveillance seem to be a feature of the Klingon Empire (and the Terran Empire) that the Federation rejected. But still, maybe red alert will trigger a guard or two taking their station on the bridge.

Not sure who fires more often, the helmsman or the navigator. IIRC in The Corbomite Maneuver, Bailey was supposed to fire.