Attack Patterns & Evasive Maneuvers

In order to assist with the defense of the ship and to increase opportunities for neutralizing threats to those aboard, Starfleet has developed a variety of standard and non-standard approaches including both attack patterns and evasive maneuvers. Often named after a Greek letter and a number (for example, attack pattern delta two), it appears these patterns involved a combination of movement, shield intensity placement, and weapons targeting.

Alpha Series Maneuvers

• Alpha: Starfleet's most basic offensive maneuver, attack pattern Alpha involves a mostly straight on approach to the target with some slight vectoring to the side based on the ship's weapons compliment and the target's movement.

Beta Series Maneuvers

• Beta: The ship dives down between two enemy ships, firing at least once at each of them (and hoping they will miss it and hit each other.)
• Beta-2: Approaching the target closely, the ship jinks to the starboard of the target, then dives beneath it to emerge on its port ventral side, firing as it goes.
• Beta-3: The ship makes a broad arc turn around one or more ships, attacking them as it goes.
• Beta-4: The ship climbs steeply, veering to port or starboard, then quickly dives back down, firing at targets as it goes.

Delta Series Maneuvers

• Delta: The ship swoops up from underneath a target to attack its vulnerable ventral side.
• Delta-2: The ship swoops over the target from starboard to port, then back again from port to starboard (sometimes diving underneath in the process) firing as it goes.
• Delta-3: The ship dives straight down at, or climbs straight up at, the target, firing forward weapons.
• Delta-4: An all-out, straightforward frontal attack.
• Delta-5: A long, relatively shallow dive to one side of the target (usually whichever way allows the ship to bring the most weapons to bear on the target, or which uses the target ship to provide cover from other ships' attacks).

Kappa Series Maneuvers

• Kappa 0-1-0: From a superior position, the ship arcs down and around its target to port, firing as it goes.
• Kappa 0-2-0: The ship flies on a carefully-calculated arc through a battlefield, firing at multiple targets.

Omega Series Maneuvers

• Omega: As the ship approaches the target head-on, it jinks to one side and dives steeply from one end of it to another.
• Omega-2: The ship rolls from one side to the other, giving its weapons maximum exposure so the Tactical officer can attack several targets.
• Omega-3: The ship veers back and forth across the battlefield like a darting swallow, attacking vulnerable targets.
• Omega-4: Maneuver may only be used by ships which have four or more weapons (of any type) which they can bring to bear on a single target. The ship swoops over or past the target at reasonably close range, firing all available weapons in a multiple weapon attack.

Sierra Series Maneuvers

• Sierra: The ship swoops in from an aft dorsal angle to attack the target from behind.
• Sierra-2: While seeming as if it will pass by a particular target, the ship turns to face it head-on and attacks.
• Sierra-3: The ship flies through the heart of a battle, jinking back and forth to avoid enemy attacks as it fires at choice targets.
• Sierra-4: The ship comes up from beneath the target(s) and loops up and over it/them.

Theta Series Maneuvers

• Theta: A longstanding favorite of many of Star Fleet's more daring officers, the Theta attack pattern works best when the ship is outnumbered by at least three to one. The ship flies amidst its enemies, jinking (and even rolling) so that it can use as many of its weapons on as many targets as possible. It works best for Fighters, Escorts, and other small ships.

Other Maneuvers

• Approach Maximum Aspect: The ship approaches its target from an angle which gives it the most possible surface space to fire at (with Star Fleet ships, that usually means from directly above or below, but it varies from ship to ship.
• Circumvential Attitude: This maneuver requires two or more ships. To use it, the ships surround a single target on as many sides as possible, attacking it from every angle and cutting off any attempts to escape.
• Cochrane Deceleration: The ship decelerates suddenly, allowing the enemy to pass so it can fire forward weapons.
• Passive Lure Ship: "plays dead," pretending to be a derelict or too badly damaged to function. The Conn makes an Opposed Test using Shipboard Systems (Sensors) against any enemy vessel who scans it trying to find out how badly hurt it is.
• Scraping: This maneuver allows a ship to temporarily knock another ship's thrusters offline. To perform it, a ship must have active shields and brush up against the target ship, which must also have active shields.

Sources: Adapted from the "Attack Patterns & Evasive Manoeuvres" guide of Starbase 332. Used with permission.

Updated: 06/16/2024