For some reason I want to make life difficult for myself today. Some kind of death-wish?

(5:25) Level 3 ('The Truth and Reconciliation') on Normal. A year ago in BCM94 I showed three plays of a dustbowl megabattle save featuring 43 covies, using my cliff path defence plan. Here's the same again except with the covies drawn towards the far end to begin with, to make for a massive attack there. The only realistic way to face it down is to shovel grenades like they're going out of fashion. And even then it's tough to survive. As for the gunplay, I'm using an AR.

Released January 31st 2015, gameplay recorded January 19th-21st 2014.

00:02 (Play 1) Emerging from my starting point, I fire a few shots to get covies flocking down into the dustbowl, then I head to the far end, smacking a red Elite as I go, heh heh. A few shots help draw the covies my way, though they'd tend to head my way regardless, despite my cloaking. I'm careful not to shoot too much, else I might get hit and become visible, which could spell rapid disaster. After a short time my camo is about to wear off, so I head for the path to get ready for battle.

00:40 A few rocks provide cover to start with, as I begin throwing grenades. I'll need to thin out the covies pretty fast, and especially the Elites. Also I'll need to evade as much fire as I can, to try and keep my shield in good shape. Two plasmas and a frag do good work, resulting in a bunch of Elite death cries. I've backed off evasively but then I advance and throw a few more grenades to good effect.

01:02 Despite causing massive casualties, my shield is now bleeping and it's time to back off. I make good use of the rocks and a tree, moving evasively to avoid fire and thus let my shield recharge.

01:12 I now start moving back towards the far end again. A frag blasts a red Elite from the side and my AR finishes him off. That's the last Elite, and although I still have to be careful not to get over-confident, things are much less dangerous now. I enjoy running around mopping up the Grunts and Jackals; and the final Jackal gets pleasingly launched.

02:09 (Play 2) At the start of this fight I get a "Wort wort wort", and I issue a plasma grenade in return - which tags an Elite on the leg. The blast takes out one of his buddies too. Meanwhile I've thrown a frag, which badly hurts the red Elite who's advanced on me, then I finish him with AR fire. Nice opening.

02:19 Using the small rock for cover I do more good work with grenades and AR. A Grunt manages a grenade throw himself - "Here goes!" - but I elect not to back off. Instead I just keep against the wall to be clear of the blast. By luck I tag a blue Elite on the foot, and then I take down his needling buddy with circling AR fire and a whack.

02:38 Heading away from the flock of covies who still seem to be arriving, I spot two advancing Jackals and throw a frag, using a jump to see them a little better. It's well placed and they go flying. Enjoyed that! A blue Elite approaches from the ramp but runs into my AR fire, and I leave him humiliated with a tag. I briefly use a tree for cover as I throw a frag. Then after killing two Grunts and a Jackal with the AR, there's a lull.

03:00 A smattering of minor covies starts to arrive, mostly from the direction of the ramp, and they're easy pickings, although I do get caught by a plasma ball and have to be evasive for a while. My shield recharges with no health lost. Eventually a Grunt gets double tagged and the blast takes out his two pals, ending the threat on the path.

03:31 I've heard another Grunt though, so I go looking. Turns out to be under the rocky overhang near where the camo was. Covies often get stalled under there. I throw a plasma grenade across, and score the tag I was hoping for.

03:56 (Play 3) Ok, final round! This one features probably my best starting period. A succession of grenades causes havoc and I avoid enemy fire well, dodging around and using a tree for cover. Notice in particular the two streams of needles I avoid at the start; those could've ruined my day fast! I also do some nice AR work, drilling some blue Elites at close range - and then a red who's just been sent reeling from a frag blast.

04:20 By now I've backed off a bit. I've only been taking damage slowly, but it's mounting up. I make good use of a large rock and a tree for cover as I shovel more grenades, threading some of them through gaps. The throws keep interrupting my reloading, which is frustrating for me to watch now, but eventually I get it completed.

04:32 A mass of Grunts and Jackals comes into view, and they make a great target for a frag. That blast may've had the highest kill count in the movie I think. It perhaps gives me a touch of over-confidence as I advance. Despite the absence of Elites, the covies start hurting me, seizing on the opportunity presented by my bleeping shield. It's a situation I know well from megabattling, and I'm already making for cover, even though it never feels very dignified to be running away from mere Grunts and Jackals. However, I dish out a few plasmas on the way, which weakens the mob.

04:54 With shield recharged, I head back into what's left. Turns out to be five Grunts. One of them catches some AR fire - didn't even see him - and another seems to get killed by a colleague ("It wasn't me"). Running up the path, I tag number three at close range then shoot the fourth. That just leaves one Grunt, who I stun and tag. As he heads over the cliff, I whip out the sniper rifle to follow him; and when he eventually slides to to a stop on the rather flat ground below, I put a round in him for good measure.

Closing remarks These plays were actually done back when I was working on BCM94 a year ago. In fact they were done a few days before the ones I used for that movie. If I recall correctly, my initial idea had been to show attacks focused at the far end such as seen here, but it turned out to be so hard to survive that I thought it might be too discouraging for people to try for themselves. So I switched to playing in a more typical way instead, with the covies approaching more equally from both sides. However, I'd suffered so much pain getting these three good plays of an intense far end attack that I didn't want to waste them. I put them aside to show later, and here we are.

I don't normally include captions in my megabattle movies, but in this case I thought it made sense to include a few words at the start, to make the intent clear.

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