Six and a half spectacular minutes of carnage and chaos in a Banshee…

(6:31) Level 5 ('Assault on the Control Room') on Normal. This montage showcases the Banshee attack plan for the cavern megabattle, using the same save as for BCM141. I had so much fun playing for that movie that I wanted to do some more right away, and I had the idea of making a montage to really max out the intensity. The result: six and a half minutes of carnage and chaos, including a fair bit of Ghost ramming which is good fun. Watch out for more montage mayhem in the future; it's a style I certainly intend to use again!

Released May 9th 2015, gameplay recorded April 29th and May 5th-6th 2015.

00:02 (Battle is joined) It didn't feel right to start off in the thick of the action, so I decided to have an intro clip showing a battle getting under way. This one features a good view of the twelve Marines advancing. A few Grunts get blasted for openers.

00:13 (Dual plasma grenade blasts) The first of many clips involving an enemy Ghost, this one ends with two loose plasma grenades getting detonated as I fly past, one of which kills an Elite behind a stanchion.

00:25 (Flying Elite blasted) An Elite dives in reaction to my approach and he seems to get deflected up off a Marine, taking him over the edge. My subsequent shot hits the chasm wall, killing him with splash damage.

00:34 (Splatter and blast) Nice bit of splattering here, getting a Hunter and an Elite. Then I curve around and blast a pair of Jackals.

00:46 (Killed by close Hunter shot) With Hunters around it's a rather bad idea to remain stationary for more than a few seconds. This clip is a good illustration why. Apparently I was a bit too focused on blasting covies.

00:56 (Ghost rammed and blasted) When I ram this Ghost it goes flying out into the void. My second barge gives it a good bit of spin, and then I score a mid-air hit, killing the pilot. At the time however, I didn't immediately spot that I'd killed him, so I briefly tracked the Ghost until seeing that it was empty.

01:05 (Marine fountain) My shot at a Hunter finishes a nearby Elite, then I curve around to continue the work. Just as I'm about to send in another blast, events take a turn for the worse when Marines are sent flying by loose plasma grenades going off, courtesy of a Hunter shot.

01:15 (Splatter and blast) Skimming along the bridge I splatter three Elites and also make two dive to the side. Curving around, I see them on or near the rim and kill them with a quick blast.

01:24 (Johnson drives off the edge) After blasting a Jackal I switch my attention to a Hunter on the right, giving him the splatter treatment. But when I curve back around I see Johnson clumsily going over the edge in his Ghost. He's out of it almost immediately and I briefly follow him down. So long Sarge!

01:39 (Unstoppable cyborg stopped) A panicking Grunt screams "He's unstoppable" as I head away, but a Hunter has other ideas. He catches me with an impressive shot as I curve around after a well placed blast which killed at least three Elites. This is one of five clips obtained during the making of BCM141.

01:54 (Empty Ghost goes flying) When I curve back around and send in a shot, a frag goes off slightly before my shot hits. A loose plasma grenade gets detonated and an empty Ghost goes flying - along with an Elite.

02:03 (Ghost rammed and blasted) I try to ram a Ghost but it goes up over the Banshee and lands on the platform. Plenty of time for me to take aim and blast it.

02:15 (Action with Shade fire) In some of my plays the Shade got righted (sometimes I did it deliberately) and consequently manned. Here's a first clip including some Shade fire, which adds prettily to the scene.

02:23 (Red on rim rammed) After sending in a useful blast I notice a red Elite on the bridge rim. Actually there seems to be another Elite there too, though I'm not completely sure if he's on the rim or just behind it. Anyway, I get targeted and the firing rate is ferocious; like an Elite on Legendary! I could blast that first guy but I decide instead to enjoy ramming him. A Marine gets caught too. Should've ducked!

02:37 (Tagged after Ghost ram) When I ram a Ghost the pilot ends up on the far platform and I cruise in to blast him at close range. But unfortunately I get tagged by a Grunt. He'll get a medal for that!

02:54 (Covie fountain) Nice bit of covie clearing here. My blast kills three Elites and a Grunt, then a detonated plasma kills two Jackals.

03:02 (Marines around a Ghost) An enemy Ghost has got in among the Marines but the pilot is killed. Another Elite comes running to man it and I don't bring him down in time. As he clambers aboard, the Marines are decimated by explosions. There's actually one Marine left and I'm not sure if I noticed him, but I blast the Ghost anyway.

03:17 (Dive and splatter) I dive steeply down behind the covies, sending in a blast to hopefully reduce the amount of fire I'm about to take, then I level out for a bit of splattering. Looks like I got an Elite and a Grunt.

03:28 (Ghost rammed high) I ram a Ghost and it starts to go high, then gets an extra boost when the Banshee is hit by a Hunter shot. That takes the Banshee close to destruction but I fly clear ok.

03:37 (Killed by fiendish Hunter shot) After wreaking some havoc on the far platform, including a sneaky shot on a Jackal who'd disappeared behind a pipe, I arc away, only to be exterminated by a fiendishly accurate Hunter shot. Clip obtained during the making of BCM141.

03:51 (Red on a pipe) In BCM141 there was an Elite who ended up on a pipe after diving off the bridge. In this clip you get a better view of such a transition. I subsequent blast and squash him, though I take a second plasma ball in the process.

04:05 (Splatter-fest) Here's another clip obtained during the making of BCM141. In my closing remarks of the commentary I mentioned a play in which I made a "fairly monumental splattering run". This is the splattering in question. I get a Hunter, three or four Elites, and two or three Jackals.

04:11 (Another covie fountain) Nice fountain of covie bodies after my shot.

04:19 (Killed by frag?) At the start of this clip you can hear a Marine shout "Fire in the hole!", and I think the frag in question is what destroys my ride. If you look carefully the frag can actually be seen in a few frames. Johnson is not optimistic about the squad's chance of survival.

04:31 (Ghost rammed and blasted, pilot zapped) I ram a Ghost off the bridge and it tumbles down the side of a pipe. The pilot survives when I score a hit with a fuel rod shot, but I persevere and get him with plasma fire. You might also enjoy the sight of a red Elite diving off the bridge.

04:43 (Blue Elite on a stanchion) I blast a couple of Elites but a Marine is also in the blast radius; I'm not sure I noticed him. There's a blue Elite on a stanchion and I curve in to enjoy ramming him off.

04:53 (Shade blasted) Pestered by Shade fire, I decide to put an end to it with a fuel rod shot. The blast also makes a blue Elite audibly mad. I get sight of him running to the edge and fire another shot which finishes him off.

05:07 (Killed after Hunter blast) After taking a nasty frontal hit from a Hunter shot I nevertheless press home an attack, finishing a blue Elite. Then I decide I'd better veer off to safety, but it's a bit late. Inspecting the frames, it looks like a red Elite gets me with plasma fire. The Banshee blows up and I go flying onto the platform.

05:20 (Ghost blasted then another) A double dose of Ghost blasting here, one Ghost at a time.

05:30 (Elite on a pipe) After a spot of splattering on the far platform, I continue on down to blast a blue Elite on a pipe.

05:36 (Tagged while splattering) When I skim along the bridge to try and lay waste to the opposition, I pick up a fizzing blue gift from a Grunt, and it's not long before I'm flying though the air without my Banshee. Clip obtained during the making of BCM141.

05:45 (Ghost rammed and blasted) One last Ghost ramming. This one goes off to the right and I blast it in mid-air, killing the pilot. He took some nice peppering from the Marines too!

05:54 (Static Ghost blasted) After blasting a Jackal and spiralling down, I end up focusing on a static Ghost. I hover a bit long - dangerous with those Hunters around - but eventually move forward to deliver the final blast.

06:09 (Two Elites on a pipe) Seeing two Elites stranded on a pipe (due to evasive dives when I went on a splattering run), I cruise down. My blast shakes the first guy off his feet and then he's splatted by my Banshee. The other makes a dive and evades the Banshee but goes off the pipe.

06:17 (Resting place) I thought this clip would make a nice ending, as I amusingly end up crumpled on a stanchion while the battle goes on. The Banshee may well have been destroyed by a frag. You can hear a Marine shout "Frag out!" and you can subsequently see the trace. Bearing in mind that the Banshee was only on one health bar, the other possibilities are fire from the Elite, or even friendly fire, but it's hard to tell. Clip obtained during the making of BCM141.

Closing remarks For a while I've had the idea of doing some montage movies for megabattles; possibly for particular battle plans. Well, this Banshee attack plan seemed to be practically crying out for such a movie as the action is so spectacular, so I decided to get busy. I was thinking to hold the release back for a while to cover some other topics first, but having put the movie together I decided I couldn't wait. I wanted to get this carnage out there!

I've included plenty of Ghost ramming. There wasn't any in BCM141 and actually I can't recall doing any in the megabattle before, but it's certainly a fun thing to do, with entertaining possibilities in regard to finishing off the pilot. I've also included five clips I had from my time recording for that movie. Mostly of me getting killed.

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