History Main / AttackPatternAlpha

* In ''[[{{Ringworld}} The Ringworld Throne]]'', Luis Wu teaches Chmee's son Acolyte the value of predetermined actions, and in training until performing said actions are second nature the moment one decides to perform one. He compares it to an astronaut being trained so that the first thing he does in an emergency situation is put on his pressure suit, and then asks if wtsai (the Kzinti knife-fighting martial art) by asking if there is "a default maneuver; a move that is used when you are surprised or if you aren't really sure which move to use." Turns out there is one: the disembowel.

** The Picard Manoeuvre. Amusingly, according to Peter David, this is also the name that [[FanNickname other Starfleet Captains have given]] to the little tug that Jean-Luc does on his uniform whenever he stands up. (Other characters do that as well, although not as excessively. Propably the uniforms were all one size too small, if you compare them with the ones from ''DS9'' or ''Voyager'', this actually appears to hold true...)

** A later episode has Ratchet order the ship (which is about to crash) to deploy its "emergency defense mode, code name: Omega" which prompts the ship to [[spoiler:transform into its robot mode: Omega Supreme]]. Optimus had tried to do the same thing in the first episode, but the ship was being stingy with Energon at the time and overrode him. [[spoiler:That and Omega Supreme was still MostlyDead at that point]].

** Different armies used different signaling devices, but the concept remained the same, whether that signal was given with a flag, a drum, a horn, or in some other manner.

**** "[T]he ability for a force to retain close order cohesion and stay organized on the battlefield..." is of '''paramount''' tactical importance on said battlefield.

* ''PowerRangersRPM'' had the zords use "Attack Pattern Alpha", which appears to be military speak for "turn left" and the megazord used "Attack Sequence Mustang", which means holding up the shield. Not really an "attack sequence", and it's hard to see where horses come into it, but whatever....

** He also gets a squad of soldiers holding him at gunpoint under his command simply by shouting "Defence Pattern Delta". Whether this is because he knew of the command structure (he worked for UNIT, after all) or simply relied on the fact that they didn't know who he was and were accustomed to following orders is not clear.

* Ancient Japanese military formations were described by names, and troops were drilled into how to get into these formations quickly and efficiently when the signal flags were waved.

* In ''[[PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians The Sea of Monsters]]'', this trope is all but named outright when Percy, Clarisse, and Grover take on Polyphemus using "attack plan Macedonia."

* In ''[[PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians The Sea of Monsters]]'', this trope is named outright when Percy, Clarisse, and Grover take on Polyphemus using "attack plan Macedonia."

* In one of the ''Star Trek'' novels, Attack Pattern Alpha is described as salvo-firing forward weapons, then rolling to the right to avoid return fire

'''K:''' Just shoot the thing on three! One...

* In DuckTales, Hewey, Dewey and Louie frequently resort to "plan B" when they don't get their way. "Plan B" means "lie down on the floor, cry, scream and kick". Uncle Scrooge usually gives in.

[[XiaolinShowdown http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DragonXKumeiFormation_7262.jpg]]
[[caption-width:350:"Dragon Ex Kumei Formation!"]]

Related to TimeForPlanB. If done excessively, this can become CallingYourAttacks.

* MobileSuitGundam has the Black Tri-stars and their Jetstream Attack. It didn't work too well.

* [[OnePiece Tactics 15!]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqNw_6Ayqao Pirate Docking Six!]] [[CombiningMecha Giant Robot Warrior!]] [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome BIG EMPEROR!]]
** Usopp, being the big liar he is, likes to call the AttackPatternAlpha ''after'' his crewmates have beaten the enemies. In the business of getting all the merit for teamwork, he's the best.

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
* In Stephen Brian Ratliff's FanFic/MarissaPicard storys [sic], the titular MarySue has a playbook consisting of a wide variety of Attack Patterns, all starting with her own name. Many use the names of classical composers to distinguish them from all the other Marrissa Attack Patterns.

* In ''StarWars: The Empire Strikes Back'', during the snowspeeder battle on Hoth, Luke orders "Attack Pattern Delta" -- which appears to be flying in a single file line.
** Well, not exactly. If you keep watching, you'll notice that the four snowspeeders line up in a straight line, curve to the right as a group, and then split into pairs to take out two walkers. Presumably the split is where they get the name "delta" -- but either way it's more than just a single-file line.
*** The EU confirms that "Attack Pattern Delta" in this context refers to advancing in single file and then peeling off at the last minute, to present a smaller target to the AT-AT's relatively clumsy weapons. See http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Attack_Pattern_Delta
**** One of the ''Star Wars'' arcade games treats Attack Pattern Delta as an offensive action, where three snowspeeders concentrate their fire on a single point in an enemy's armor.

*** The StarWarsExpandedUniverse is, naturally, [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Tactics chock-full]] of these babies. ''Attack Run Rancor Alderaan Niner'', anyone? Or how about a ''Cracken Twist'', or a ''Thrawn Pincer''? Not an ''Ackbar Slash'', though. '''[[IThoughtItMeant Never]] [[NoJustNo an]] [[{{Squick}} Ackbar]] [[BrainBleach Slash]].'''

* And who could forget ''[[PlanNineFromOuterSpace Plan Nine]]''? [[AsYouKnow Oh, yes. It deals with the resurrection of the dead.]]
** Plans 1 through 8 must have been ''embarrassingly'' bad.

* From, of all places, ''BlazingSaddles'':

** Let's not forget the end result however: the women stampeded and cattle raped.
* Played with in ''{{Men in Black}}''. Agents K and J are preparing to shoot the evil alien's ship:

* In ''Transformers'', "Roll out Strike Package Bravo."
** All the scenes in the AWACS were not scripted, Michael Bay just asked the real-life Air Force controllers to talk as if they were really in battle. One controller later said that Michael Bay really like the phrase "Killbox 1-Alpha"

* {{Dune}} has entire battle languages for the Sardaukar and household troops to give orders or report without being understood by their enemies.
* Subverted in one of the {{Shadowrun}} novels (forget which), when an ex-government assassin gets mentally caught up in his training, and starts barking out code names for maneuvers to his teammates ... who are street-thugs with no clue what he's talking about.

** In that same mirror universe episode, Sisko orders a run at the aforementioned Klingon juggernaut, which mirror-O'Brien dubs "pattern suicide."
* ''StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'' had fun with this as well. With Klingons eavesdropping on the comm channel, Kirk needed a shrewd way of telling the bridge crew that he intended to have his shuttle land at full speed without even ''trying'' to avoid a crash:
-->'''Kirk:''' Stand by for Emergency Landing Plan... B.\\
'''Chekov:''' What's Emergency Landing Plan B?\\
'''Scotty:''' I don't have a clue...\\
'''Kirk:''' B, as in... "barricade".\\
'''Scotty:''' He can't be ''serious''.

** The Picard Manoeuvre.
*** Amusingly, according to Peter David; this is also the name that [[FanNickname other Starfleet Captains have given]] to the little tug that Jean-Luc does on his uniform whenever he stands up. (Other characters do that as well, although not as excessively. Propably the uniforms were all one size too small, if you compare them with the ones from DS9 or Voyager, this actually appears to hold true...)
** ''Star Trek Insurrection'' also has the Riker Maneuver, which consists of collecting as much volatile gas as possible, dumping it in front of the enemy ships and running.
** Riker orders Attack Pattern Kirk Epsilon in Nemesis during the Bazen Rift battle.
* Done in the new ''DoctorWho'', "Voyage of the Damned". The Doctor is being menaced by [[KillerRobot killer robots]] and tries to stop them by yelling random numbers. "Umm... Security Protocol [[GeorgeLucas One-One-Three-Eight]]! [[TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Forty-Two]]! [[NumberOfTheBeast Six Hundred Sixty-Six!]] One!" The last one works, shifting their mode from "Kill everybody" to "Information kiosk".
** Well, to "[[LiteralGenie You have three questions]]"...
*** He also gets a squad of soldiers holding him at gunpoint under his command simply by shouting "Defence Pattern Delta". Whether this is because he knew of the command structure (he worked for UNIT, after all) or simply relied on the fact that they didn't know who he was and were accustomed to following orders is not clear.

* BattleTech , predictably, had many maneuvers that sounded like this. But the term Alpha Strike was reserved for when a Mech pilot decided that blowing out the heat sinks (and potentially blowing up the 'mech) was a lesser risk than ''not'' firing all the weaponry onboard at once.

* As per the StarTrek examples above, it's used in StarTrekOnline. Attack Patterns Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omega are all Tactical techniques which are extremely useful in battle (Evasive maneuvers, as mentioned above, is also available). Who knows what happened to Gamma.
** StarTrekOnline also had what came to be called alpha strikes from AI opponents. When presented with multiple enemies, the entire enemy fleet would target one player at a time, focusing fire, and eliminating them almost instantly, before doing the same thing to the next player. Patches have since changed it so that this can't happen often.
* The MechWarrior series, as with its Battletech progenitor, allows an Alpha Strike that fires all available weapons simultaneously. Practically guaranteed to overheat the mech and force a temporary shutdown, but if you need that enemy Atlas dead ''immediately'' (Protip: you do), it's probably your best option.
* TheLordOfTheRingsOnline has the "Fellowship Maneuver", where every member gets to choose one of four effects (damage, damage over time, healing, power restoring), that combined make up a coordinated attack. If players sucessfully mixes effects in specific orders, the attack ends up more powerful than if they'd simply all have choosen the same effect, and may also have other benefits like summoning a oathbreaker to help out in the fight.

* ''XiaolinShowdown''. "Dragon Ex Kumai Formation!"
** Don't forget "Wudai Orion Formation!" It's basically the above, but instead of just increasing their elemental powers, it goes a lot further and turns them into color-coded silhouetted ''forces of nature''.

* ''BikerMiceFromMars'' absolutely ''loved'' this trope (well, at least the 90's version did. This Troper is not familiar with the revival version). They seemed to have an applicable plan for just about every situation they encountered, and never used the same formation twice.
** Which is justified because they actually are soldiers with a high degree of training and military expirience.
*** Also lampshaded during the "Biker Knights of the Round Table" two-parter, when Throttle calls out for a manuever they've never heard of before, then explains he's just "added it to [their] repetoire".

* ''{{xXx}}: State of the Union'' uses one of these this both to [[WhatsASecretFour establish a shared history]] between two characters and in its Attack Pattern Alpha sense:

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DragonXKumeiFormation_7262.jpg

[[quoteright:265:[[XiaolinShowdown http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Xialoin2.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:265:[-"Formation Dragon Ex Kumai" also [[AllYourPowersCombined combines]] their ElementalPowers.-] ]]

** Don't forget "Wudai Orion Formation!"