Flare Sci-Fi Forums: "Attack Pattern Omicron? Have to look that one up. . ." ($)

This is topic "Attack Pattern Omicron? Have to look that one up. . ." ($) in forum Starships & Technology at Flare Sci-Fi Forums.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://flare.solareclipse.net/ultimatebb.php/topic/6/415.html

Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :

Starfleet Tactics

It's gotten so we don't notice them anymore, but lines of dialogue during battles are peppered with orders for specific manoeuvres. Usually that's all we get to see - the Bridge rocks around a bit, Worf barks "shields down to 54%!" and that's it. Bit of a rip-off, really.

But occasionally we do get to see a bit of what's really happening, and I started wondering whether it was possible to catalogue the identifiable formations and turns a ship might make. This is what I have so far. . .

These tactics have been rendered in the form of little aniGIFs. Pass�, I know, but I had fun with them. I hope you enjoy them too. . . 8)

Attack Pattern Beta 4-7 (from "MiaB")

Three sections of the Prometheus surround a Nebula and fire at points round the hull until the shields collapse.

Attack Pattern Alpha (from "MiaB")

Three sections of the Prometheus move into formation to attack a Warbird, volleying it with shots. Note that the coup de grace is delivered by a Defiant-class ship that joins the formation and fires - with a forward-mounted phaser beam. . .

Evasive Manoeuvres Pattern Theta (from "TotP")

The Defiant, under fire, does a complicated jink to avoid it. . . note that in fact it ends up almost where it was, and gets hit anyway!

Attack Pattern Delta (from "TCFoE")

Coming into the Chin'Toka system, Sisko orders shields be reinforced, then asks for Delta and fires Quantum Torpedoes. The ship then goes into a climb before firing into the belly of a Breen warship. . . note that this may not be Delta, and that I've used a Karemman vessel in the absence of a usable Breen pic!

Evasive Manouevres Pattern Delta (from "WYLB")

In pursuit of a Breen vessel, the Defiant gets two Jem'Hadar bugs on its tail. Sisko orders Delta, the ship does a loop (seen from the Defiant's POV, a great shot) which brings them down behind the JH, destroying one. The Breen escapes. . .

Others: Pattern Omega is mentioned in "SofA," but isn't really identifiable. . .

Of course, tactics used for the Prometheus in multi-vector mode may not be the same as those for a single ship such as the Defiant, which given the nature of its armament may have some pretty specific manoeuvres itself. . . Thoughts? Any more?

Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :

In "Shattered Mirror" Sisko orders something to the tune of "Evasive Manoevres: Pattern Alpha". The Defiant shakes left and right, enabling it to go behind a Klingon BoP and finish it with a few shots.......

I think it is pattern Alpha. Whatever it is, Mirror O'Brien never knew what it was about.......

------------------
I can resist anything.......
Except Temptation

Posted by Elim Garak (Member # 14) on :

"Pattern alpha? What's that?"

"Rock her. Port to starboard -- hard."

Doesn't work, so: "Hard to port."

Very nice job, Lee.

------------------
Elim Garak: "Oh, it's just Garak. Plain, simple Garak. Now, good day to you, Doctor. I'm so glad to have made such an... interesting new friend today." (DS9: "Past Prologue")

[This message has been edited by Elim Garak (edited September 20, 1999).]

Posted by Black Knight (Member # 134) on :

Nice diagrams!

------------------
A-"Dippidy Doo." Q-"What forms on your dippity early in the morning?"--Johnny Carson

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

Wow! Those are like, way cool man! You need to save those and put them up somewhere. Maybe add a tactics section to your site.

Anyway, I'd imagine, as someone said, that some patterns are ship specific. I can imagine the manual..."So You Want To Pilot A Defiant".

------------------
"And much of Madness, and more of Sin, and Horror the soul of the plot."
--
The Conqueror Worm, by Edgar Allan Poe

Posted by Dax (Member # 191) on :

They might even be mission or Captain specific - who knows?

Oh yeah, excellent job on the animations They must have taken time to prepare.

------------------
"Forgive me if I don't share your euphoria!" (Weyoun to Dukat, DS9 'Tears of the Prophets')
Dax's Ships of STAR TREK

Posted by Bernd (Member # 6) on :

Great graphics. You *must* create a tactics section, otherwise I will do it

------------------
*Obscure humorous pretentious Gaelic-Latin signature*
Ex Asterige Scientia

Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :

Time taken? Not that much, really, once you have all the elements in place it's just a matter of moving things a bit at a time. AniGIFs are cheesy, yes, but I thought they'd get the idea over nicely. I considered adding other little touches, like shields on the Nebula, for instance, but decided it would be overkill.

So, if anyone does watch some episode of any of the shows, and notices a certain manoeuvre, let me know! I'll have a crack at Evasive Manoeuvre Alpha tonight, thanks Tahna and Elim! I don't suppose you see how much the ship rocks from side to side?

Posted by Gaseous Anomaly (Member # 114) on :

No, of course you don't. You just see Smiley's "Oh, beajasus" face. And then the Defiant undergoes some weird jinking and ends up behind+above the BoP. Never figured that bit out.

Pattern Sierra was mentioned somewhere, I'm sure of it. It might even have been on Voyager.

YES!! Someone else noticed that the Defiant in MiaB uses a forward-firing beam to wax the Warbird, much like the deflector-emitter in "Starship Down"!
My sanity has been restored. For that, Lee, I thanketh thee.

Oh, loved the animations too.

[Edited bit] Hang on, are you sure it was "Evasive maneuveurs; pattern alpha" that Sisko ordered Smiley?
I'm thinking it was "Pattern Delta" that he ordered.
------------------
The unexplained phenomenon that crippled the U.S.S. Unimpeachable --
Gaseous Anomaly...
What anomalises gaseously.

[This message has been edited by Gaseous Anomaly (edited September 21, 1999).]

Posted by Dax (Member # 191) on :

I remember it being Delta, as well.

------------------
"Forgive me if I don't share your euphoria!" (Weyoun to Dukat, DS9 'Tears of the Prophets')
Dax's Ships of STAR TREK

Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :

Sierra patteren was a grouping of torpedo's in a TNG episode. "Yesterdays Enterprise" perhaps.

Very nice First. I'm going to have to come in here more often.

------------------
Outside of a dog, a book is a mans best friend. Inside of a dog, it's to dark to read. Groucho Marx

Posted by Black Knight (Member # 134) on :

well for the jinking...
Modern pilots use an 'S' maneuver where they jink side to side which slows the plane down rapidly which forces their adversary to overshoot, so they can get behind them.

My two cents

------------------
A-"Dippidy Doo." Q-"What forms on your dippity early in the morning?"--Johnny Carson

Posted by Elim Garak (Member # 14) on :

"Caretaker": Janeway says, "Fire phasers; evasive pattern Delta-four." Then the ship rolls slightly, but barely moves as they fire on a little Kazon raider.

------------------
Elim Garak: "Oh, it's just Garak. Plain, simple Garak. Now, good day to you, Doctor. I'm so glad to have made such an... interesting new friend today." (DS9: "Past Prologue")

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

Another one you forgot: The Picard Maneuver! :-)

Did they ever use the idea of slowing down and letting your pursuer overshoot you, then shooting them from behind? If so, did they give it a name?

------------------
"Maybe they're trying to breed them..."
-guy in my math class, suggesting a reason for there being two overhead projectors in the classroom

Posted by Dax (Member # 191) on :

Tom did that in his shuttle against the Kazon fighter in "Basics II" but it wasn't given a name.

------------------
"Forgive me if I don't share your euphoria!" (Weyoun to Dukat, DS9 'Tears of the Prophets')
Dax's Ships of STAR TREK

Posted by Gaseous Anomaly (Member # 114) on :

It was used by Martok in 'Sons and Daughters', when the Rotarran was escorting a convoy and was attacked by Jem'Hadar bugs. Tactic wasn't named.

Dropped to a quater-impulse, let the bug overfly, and then gave them a few seconds disruptors (no torpedoes though *rant*).

------------------
The unexplained phenomenon that crippled the U.S.S. Unimpeachable --
Gaseous Anomaly...
What anomalises gaseously.

Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :

D'Oh! The Picard Manoeuvre! Oh, well, it only works on ships without FTL sensors, but I'll maybe include it. One question: is it really a safe assumption that it was one of those Ferengi ships of the kind we've always seen, as depicted in the Encyclopaedia?

*rubs hands with glee at prospect of using PSP blur filter to simulate warp drive effects* 8)

------------------
"The next time the workplace seems especially hectic, remind yourself it could be worse: you could have two-dozen sharp-toothed creatures chewing on your nipples." - James Lileks

Posted by Dax (Member # 191) on :

Ferengi Marauders seem too advanced to not have FTL sensors. It was probably an earlier class that's not used anymore. Although, I suppose they could have refit newer Marauders with FTLS. Who knows???

------------------
"Forgive me if I don't share your euphoria!" (Weyoun to Dukat, DS9 'Tears of the Prophets')
Dax's Ships of STAR TREK

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

It has been assumed by some, and I tend to agree with this line of thinking, that the Ferengi ship's sensor systems had been knocked out earlier in the battle.

------------------
"And much of Madness, and more of Sin, and Horror the soul of the plot."
--
The Conqueror Worm, by Edgar Allan Poe

Posted by Michael Dracon (Member # 4) on :

The only Ferengi ships I know of are the Marauder and the shuttle.

------------------
"You don't need a gun."
"That depends on your definition of 'save sex'."

from: 'Goldeneye'

Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :

Yes, I know. And the links to both on Jim Stephenson's Ship Schematics Database are broken. Can someone rustle me up a quick scan of a Marauder side view?

------------------
"The next time the workplace seems especially hectic, remind yourself it could be worse: you could have two-dozen sharp-toothed creatures chewing on your nipples." - James Lileks

Posted by Dax (Member # 191) on :

Here's one for you, TFO.
Marauder Side

------------------
"Forgive me if I don't share your euphoria!" (Weyoun to Dukat, DS9 'Tears of the Prophets')
Dax's Ships of STAR TREK

Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :

*click* Zenk you, mein Herr. 8)

------------------
"The next time the workplace seems especially hectic, remind yourself it could be worse: you could have two-dozen sharp-toothed creatures chewing on your nipples." - James Lileks

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

Just because we've only seen two types of Ferengi ships doesn't mean there were never others, especially if those aren't in use anymore. Besides, if the one at Maxia Zeta had been a D'Kora, wouldn't Picard, in "The Battle", have been likely to say something like "Y'know, I think I've seen a ship like that before someplace..."? Granted, he wouldn't necessarily have remembered, but, if it had been intended by the writers to be the same kind of ship, I would expect them to do something like that...

------------------
"I've colorized the moon."
-Ted Turner, The Family Guy

Posted by Dax (Member # 191) on :

I agree with you, TSN, but the D'kora first appeared in "The Last Outpost". Picard should have said something then (he didn't, though).

[This message has been edited by Dax (edited September 24, 1999).]

Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :

Well, I did one interim animation, but I'm not that happy with it - I know I can do it better. I'm happy to leave the Ferengi ship as a D'Kora, because it doesn't actually do anything except sit there relative to the supposed position of the Stargazer, which then leaps forward. The problem I'm having is how to depict the apparently unchanging distance of the Stargazer (going by non-FTL sensors) when it's really jumping to warp. But I'll get there, even my original attempt is pretty good (if I say so myself). 8)

------------------
"The next time the workplace seems especially hectic, remind yourself it could be worse: you could have two-dozen sharp-toothed creatures chewing on your nipples." - James Lileks

[This message has been edited by The First One (edited September 24, 1999).]

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

The encyclopedia used the image of a "marauder" to illustrate the Picard Maneuver, so I think you're in good company.

------------------
"And much of Madness, and more of Sin, and Horror the soul of the plot."
--
The Conqueror Worm, by Edgar Allan Poe

Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :

It's done. I'd have it up but I wasn't able to use my PC last night. If I could only get my FTP client through the firewall at work. . .

------------------
"Have you seen blood in the moonlight, Will? It appears quite black."

- Dr. Hannibal Lecktor (Brian Cox), Manhunter (Michael Mann, 1986)

Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :

The Picard Manoeuvre (from "The Battle")

Having sustained heavy damage from an unknown attacker (later identified as Ferengi), Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Stargazer knows that the foe are merely biding their time until his ship's systems completely fail. However, some of their actions suggest to him that their FTL sensors are either inoperative or non-existent. He therefore exhausts his ship's warp capability in leaping forward to catch up, trusting that the enemy will not be able to detect his warp signature until he appears next to them. The tactic is successful and the enemy destroyed, but battle damage forces Picard and his crew to abandon ship, leaving the Stargazer for dead.

Posted by Black Knight (Member # 134) on :

Sweet graphic! Though, shouldn't the marauder be facing the Stargazer?

------------------
A-"Dippidy Doo." Q-"What forms on your dippity early in the morning?"--Johnny Carson

Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :

Well, there I'm being revisionist. I just don't think that this bandit without FTL sensors would sit off 30 light-seconds away and conduct a battle. I reckon they were going away and the danger lay in their return when the Stargazer had succumbed to the damage and was dead in the water.

But ultimately it doesn't matter. The whole point of the Battle of Maxxia is that Picard used FTL technology to beat non-FTL technology. I hope you're not going to condemn my little cartoon just because of the way a ship that probably wasn't even the kind used faces. . . 8)

Posted by Elim Garak (Member # 14) on :

Looks good. Glad you explained where you got the "reverse" angle of the Marauder from. It actually makes more sense...

The exclamation marks give it that added touch.

------------------
Elim Garak: "Oh, it's just Garak. Plain, simple Garak. Now, good day to you, Doctor. I'm so glad to have made such an... interesting new friend today." (DS9: "Past Prologue")

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

Ooh, pretty. Nice job.

------------------
I do indeed and shall continue
Dispatch the shiftless man to points beyond
--
Soul Coughing

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

Ooh, nice. One thing though. It goes past fairly quickly, so you might have done it, but shouldn't the ferengi ship see two Stargazers? I thought it would go:
1 SG
2 SG's
The original SG moves towards the new one.

Or, if you can't see ships at warp using non-FTL sensors, then you should see
1 SG
2 SGs
Original SG dissapears.

Or something like that.

------------------
You know, when Comedy Central asked us to do a Thanksgiving episode, the first thought that went through my mind was, "Boy, I'd like to have sex with Jennifer Aniston."

-Trey Parker, co-creator of South Park

Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :

You do briefly see the two Stargazers in the little window, as if they're turning away from looking at the one they know about (which is the one going to warp) as they spot the one that's suddenly appeared right next to them. Listen, Pixar I'm not. . .

Posted by Montgomery (Member # 23) on :

Gotta love those animations!

Can one involving the Big giant head-ship Locutus be far behind?!

------------------
"FOOLS! Will I have to kill them ALL?!?!"