Captain swap! (hypotheical discussion)

Shatner, Ent - D

I saw that image recently and it got me thinking, what if Kirk was in command of the D? A young Will Riker would have had a lot in common with a young Kirk, or perhaps would of they had a friendly rivalry? There's no denying they were popular with the ladies. How about Kirk and Beverly, would he have waited so long before admitting feelings for her like Picard did?

How about alien encounters? Would Kirk reacted differently than Picard when meeting the Borg?

Thoughts? Opinions? Other Captain/ship mashups? Perhaps Archer as Captain of Voyager?
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Hmm... Not sure if Beverly would have gone for Kirk, he is very, very different from Picard. It's very difficult to swap Captains as Starfleet was in a different place in different eras. I have recently seen an episode where Kirk said, "I am a soldier, not a diplomat." I think that if he encountered the Borg during TNG time he would have probably responded with force, as he is not hesitant on self defence. That said he did encounter them at their infancy in the Motion Picture (if people adopt that interpretation of the movie).

Archer Captain of Voyager? Hm... Well, in what context? During the time frame of Voyager? There are a lot of choices he made in Enterprise where the Prime Directive would have come in handy, but one didn't exist, and according to the Prime Directive said choices could have been slightly questionable. I wonder if he would have meddled with the new species with the Prime Directive backing him. But the more I think about it, the more I think that he would have taken many of the decisions that Janeway took in the same position.
This is true! Beverly might not have gone for that roguish type. Since you mention the soldier/diplomat thing, it got me thinking that a young Riker and young Kirk would have probably gotten along but a late TNG Riker and young Kirk probably would have butted heads a lot.

As for the context of Archer and Voyager. The idea there would be Archer during the time frame of Voyager, captain of said ship. While there is the Prime Directive to consider, I also think that Archer made choices he wasn't too happy with but did it for the sake of the crew and getting back to Earth (if I recall my Ent correctly) which makes me think had he been in Janeway's position out in the Delta Quadrant, I'm sure there would have been more than one occasion where Chakotay would have stepped in to talk some sense into him. Plus Tuvok probably would of had none of that. Then again, would he even have Chakotay as his XO.

Lastly, I think that a Picard/Spock combination on the Enterprise would have worked out pretty well. Picard was definitely a diplomat and Spock would have been a good advice giver, IMO.
And here is a question. That decision with the Ocampa/Caretaker... Do you think Archer would have done what Janeway did? Hm... All I can think of is, if Earth was at stake he might have gone back. But if not... Not sure.
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"Hoshi, open a channel. This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard, of the Earth ship Enterprise..."
I think Picard would have been alright in the Enterprise era. His own moral code would have, like Archer's built the eventual Prime Directive. Also the diplomatic skill, desire to explore, and ability to use force when called upon would have settled in very nicely. Picard and Archer at their core share probably the most in common I believe.

Kirk being on the Enterprise-D would have been an interesting ordeal. Riker would have learned to continue how he was, but I don't think he'd have been the XO for near as long under Kirk. In terms of the events that occurred with the Romulan's Kirk had shown he'd still seek to avoid war but he'd use a significant amount of military guile rather than diplomatic to get similar results.

I don't think the Borg would have been encountered, due to that being Q's doing and he wouldn't have found Kirk as much fun. In TOS Kirk repeatedly showed he didn't take crap from uber beings. I think there were 3 or 4 instances in TOS where they encountered beings similar to Q. They were more than happy to let Kirk go on his way unbothered after only one encounter.