Alpha Strike (tactic)

An "alpha strike" is when a BattleMech attacks with all of its weapons at the same time. While extremely powerful, it dramatically raises the 'Mech's heat level, and after several successive alpha strikes most 'Mechs will shut down from overheating. In game terms it is attacking with all of your weapons in one round.

Gaming

In the BattleTech CCG, an Alpha Strike was referred to in the manual as an attack where the Unit completely exhausted all its autocannon ammo. This increased the Units attack, but caused it to be depleted afterwards.

In MechWarrior: Dark Age and Age of Destruction, the effect is far higher: while increasing the damage value of its attack by the number of clicks a 'Mech have to do to shutdown, the 'Mech shutdowns automaticaly, exposing it to powerful counter-attacks.