More tag-happy action in the Banshee infested valley, this time along a pretty stream!

(5:36) Level 2 ('Halo') on Legendary. Somehow it's been over two years since my last Banshee battling movie, but finally I'm back with the fourth instalment, assisted by 7 Marines including a sniper. As before, there's a short full play then a montage of clips (including some Marine watching) with various squad arrangements. I actually felt a bit rusty on the Banshee tagging for a while, but I think I got back up to speed. See what you think.

Released August 26th 2015, gameplay recorded August 19th-25th 2015.

00:02 (Full play) Exiting the rockslide area with the sniper just picked up, I take a roundabout route to the squad (deliberately passing under a tree because the branches make for a nice image), and arrive just as Johnson is being killed. When I hop up onto the rock I'm quickly targeted by one of the Banshees, but I tag it and it comes crashing down onto the rock in dramatic style. I miss a throw at the other Banshee but get it on my second try before it can make a getaway. It disappears over the hill and falls with a crash.

00:50 (Clip 1) This time I've got the troops a bit further back. A Banshee delivers a fuel rod blast but I take it down with AR fire and the pilot flies out with a groan.

00:58 (Clip 2) A spot of plasma rifle use now. A Banshee swoops in from the side but takes fire and then gets tagged. A couple of Marines got splattered though.

01:06 (Clip 3 - Marine watching) Marines love throwing frags at the Banshees, as you can see demonstrated here by Johnson and some other bozo. Of course, it's more of a hazard to the squad than the Banshees - as one Marine finds out at the end.

01:16 (Clip 4) Fourteen of my clips feature the Marines downstream near a small waterfall, and this one serves as in introduction to that area. Stacker is sent flying by a fuel rod blast but I avenge his death by tagging the attacker.

01:28 (Clip 5) At the same location a Banshee comes in and goes for a spot of splattering, getting a couple of Marines before I tag it. One manages to dive clear but is then killed by the blast. Tough luck soldier!

01:36 (Clip 6) I'm up on the rock again, this time with a plasma rifle. A Banshee comes in from the right and gets a tail tag, causing it to do a bit of swirling around.

01:43 (Clip 7 - Marine watching) As well as fragging themselves, the Marines also enjoy shooting each other of course. Johnson is on the receiving end here and rebukes the offender, who seems to think it's Johnson's fault for being in the way.

01:50 (Clip 8) A Banshee comes in quite steeply from the right, which was a common attack line for that downstream area, and does a bit of mangling. But as well as my AR fire it gets tagged, and goes flaming across the sky rather nicely.

01:59 (Clip 9) Johnson fails to get clear of an incoming fuel rod shot, and goes flying. But as the attacker continues, I tag it from the side. Notice the leaves knocked off the tree as the Banshee brushes past. Nice!

02:08 (Clip 10) This clip was the final one recorded and added to the movie, though I had to get rid of another to make room (not wanting to go much past five and a half minutes). When this Banshee gets tagged it does a nice bit of jittering, plus I also like the bang.

02:16 (Clip 11) Two Banshees tagged in this bit of downstream plasma pistol action. The first throw is the harder one of course, as I have to aim well ahead of the circling target. The next Banshee pops up right in front of me, so I can hardly miss.

02:30 (Clip 12 - Marine watching) Here's an amusing bit of synchronized fragging from Stacker and Johnson, up on the rock. Good work boys, that'll show em!

02:36 (Clip 13) My plasma throw goes high over a swooping Banshee but it doesn't matter. The Banshee gets trapped in the trees and is a sitting duck for the Marines and for my second throw. Earlier I'd got a clip of a Banshee trapped in the same spot, but in that case its entry wasn't seen, so this was the better clip.

02:47 (Clip 14) As with quite a few of my clips, this Banshee gets a spot of AR fire and then a plasma grenade. But I particularly like the ending, with Johnson's long scream and a close view of the falling flaming wreckage. That's why it made it into the movie.

02:56 (Clip 15) A Banshee swoops down and I pepper it with pistol fire before delivering the traditional plasma grenade. A Marine gets mangled but his death is soon avenged. The Banshee wreckage goes flaming overhead and I rotate to watch it.

03:05 (Clip 16) Johnson raises the alert from the rock as a Banshee approaches from the right. Doesn't last long though. It gets tagged on the underside and does a nice bit of swirling before the bang.

03:13 (Clip 17 - Marine watching) More fragging action from the Marines, plus a bit of shooting. Johnson gets killed by the fuel rod blast but the sniper survives. The blast also causes the hog to kill a Marine.

03:20 (Clip 18) With my plasma rifle I initially target a Banshee coming in from downstream, but then I turn and switch to one approaching from behind. I just manage to catch it with a tag as it's getting clear. Oh, but Johnson got killed again - another fuel rod blast.

03:30 (Clip 19) This Banshee pilot is really into his Marine mangling work, and chortles with glee when he gets two at once. But he also gets a plasma grenade on the tail!

03:38 (Clip 20) When I tag this Banshee it does a bit of a swirl then starts to pull away. At this time I was kind of backed into a spot, just hoping he'd get clear of me before the grenade went off. Fortunately he did. Made for good footage I thought.

03:47 (Clip 21 - Marine watching) Stacker and Johnson on the rock again - but Johnson gets mangled by a Banshee leg. Should've jumped clear!

03:53 (Clip 22) A Banshee comes swooping in from the side but I'm ready to ambush it with AR fire and a tag. He splatters some Marines though, including Stacker and Johnson.

04:02 (Clip 23) A Banshee swoops down, possibly intending to do some Marine mangling, but it flies clumsily into the corner rock, which must've been quite a jolt for the pilot. I move in and tag it - twice! Of course, the second grenade isn't necessary, but in this case it sends the wreckage into a nice spin.

04:13 (Clip 24) This pilot laughs merrily when his fuel rod blast kills at least one Marine, but he exits with my plasma grenade attached, which helps even the score.

04:21 (Clip 25 - Marine watching) Stacker does a great job of diving clear of a swooping Banshee, and then he brings it down with AR fire. Go Stacker!

04:26 (Clip 26) This Banshee was approaching at an extremely steep angle and from great distance, but my throwing arm meets the challenge. My pistol fire ensured that the bang would finish the job (bearing in mind that on Legendary, a tag alone doesn't guarantee destruction).

04:36 (Clip 27) Johnson gets peppered by Banshee fire after a fuel rod shot falls short. Seeing that the Banshee is already smoking, I come to the rescue with a quick bit of zapping from my plasma pistol, but poor old Johnson is too slow-witted to get clear of the oncoming wreck. Whoops! Also, Stacker appears to fall victim to his own grenade. Doh!

04:45 (Clip 28) From up on the rock I look on as the Marines come under a double attack. But I get one of the Banshees with a tag on the roof, and apparently it gets through to the pilot because he wails in anguish before the bang. I certainly needed at least one such wail for the movie.

04:53 (Clip 29 - Marine watching) Stacker and Johnson are among four Marines who get blasted by an incoming Banshee. You could see it coming, right? Luckily the cameraman was far enough from the blast to survive!

04:57 (Clip 30) One last bit of Marine mangling action. This Banshee exits with a grenade fizzing on the exterior, and there's a nice bang.

05:04 (Clip 31) The pilot of this attacking Banshee isn't much of a flier. He prangs into the cliff face and gets tagged, then hilariously flies straight into a tree, just before the satisfying bang.

05:12 (Clip 32) To end, another double kill via tagging. I get the first Banshee with quite a nice tag (and add pistol fire before the bang), but the second throw is more difficult as the Banshee is circling around. I manage to catch a leg, and just before the explosion the pilot veers into the bank. There's a brief view of my 7-man squad to finish.

Closing remarks I don't know how I let my Banshee battling schedule slip so badly. The action you can get in that valley is so good that I'd been intending to do one of these movies every 20-odd movies, but for some reason I've had this massive gap since BCM65. Certainly I've had plenty of other stuff to cover, but still, I wish I hadn't neglected these Banshees for so long.

Actually I made a start on this movie about seven months ago, but it didn't go so well and ended up sidelined while I made other movies instead. Returning to it this month, I made a fresh start except for still using the base save I'd created specially to ensure that the big rock was climbable. You see me hop up onto that rock in the full play, and in some of the clips I've even got Stacker and Johnson up there. Like I said in the description for the movie, I felt a bit rusty in the matter of Banshee tagging. But I think I'm back in the groove again now, and I also think I'll be doing another Banshee battling movie before long. Having got back into it, I'm feeling keen to try out new locations to see what action I can get.

Previously I've had a squad of nine Marines but this time I went for seven. I think that still provided enough noise, and also it potentially allowed the Banshees to survive a bit longer. Way back in BCM26 four of my squad were visually identical, and then later I used a new squad which had just two of that Marine model. But this time the only duplication is that the sniper and another Marine look the same, but that doesn't really notice because they have such different weapons. The scar-faced guy with short dark hair is entirely absent. I had two of him available but ditched both, to eliminate some voice duplication.

One thing I would've liked in the movie is a pilot getting ejected, something seen in the previous movies. But although it happened three or four times (all in the downstream area), none of those occurrences gave a good enough clip. In the first and best, I was so intent on keeping my eye on the ejected pilot sailing through the air that I failed to notice his Banshee getting blasted my way by the grenade I'd tagged it with. Consequently I was killed just moments after seeing him land - and I wasn't going to use a clip with a poor ending like that. So frustrating! A few other times I got killed even quicker because I tagged the Banshee at close range and either died in the explosion or got mangled. I really put in a lot of effort to try and get a nice ejection clip, but to no avail. However, it did give me a couple of good tag clips for late inclusion.

I wouldn't have minded a few more clips of pilots wailing in anguish after a plasma grenade gets through to them, but it's fairly rare and just didn't happen much this time - or not with sufficiently good action anyway. There's only one such event in this movie.

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