Just so you know, a lot of covies are gonna go bang in the next seven minutes…

(6:55) Level 2 ('Halo') on Heroic. I got into some needling carnage recently and felt on good form, so I started recording. So these are three plays of my rockslide megabattle save featuring 11 Marines in a far area defence against 33 covies. It's basically a rerun of BCM150, except I think the action is even better this time. There's a fairly explosive start, and quite an explosive end too!

Released February 15th 2016, gameplay recorded February 10th-13th 2016.

00:02 (Play 1) I don't think I've used this exact driving route before, but it's only a small variation on a standard one. I make a sharp left at the second small tree to head across the battlefield, and along the way a Jackal and Grunt get splattered.

00:26 Two Jackals greet me with synchronized plasma balls, and my needles initially go for the yellow-shielded guy, but then I switch aim slightly to get the blue Elite who overtakes him. A frag makes sure of tidying up the Jackal, then I hear plasma fire from the right and turn to charge another blue. He dodges wide of my needle stream before enough needles can make a bang, and then I notice the red Elite backing him up. My gung-ho tactics have gone quite far enough and I need to get clear fast! Backing off, my clip runs dry so I throw a quick frag to try and stop the red shooting for a while, then I tag the blue at point-blank range before turning to escape; but I've lost a lot of health already.

00:41 Rounding the tree which gives me cover for a while, I fire needles towards a red heading for the semicircle of rocks, then follow with a plasma grenade. As it turns out though, my grenade isn't needed. The needles cause a big explosion which sends two reds and a Jackal flying. Very nice. That Jackal really shoots up! Meanwhile a blue has advanced but I get him with needles. That's five Elites dead now. Two to go.

00:53 I send a frag out to a Jackal on the left - that's going to be on target - then I try the same with the yellow-shielded guy lower down. Just as I'm about to throw, he makes a movement as if to head up the hill, so I twitch my aim left. But he doesn't go up the hill after all, and the frag is wasted. Meanwhile a red has advanced and I get him with needles, then also a blue who comes in from the right. I eventually get the Jackal with a plasma grenade, not long after.

01:14 As mopping up proceeds, I'm fairly cautious due to low health. I have to back off part way through to get more needles, but I avoid getting into any trouble, and soon it's over. Only one Marine casualty, which is unusually good for a needler defence.

02:18 (Play 2) To keep the movie under seven minutes I've skipped the drives for plays 2 and 3, but I can tell you that in each case, only a Grunt got splattered; so that still leaves 32 covies to deal with. I open my defence with a long-range plasma to the right, but it looks to've fallen short so I follow up with a stream of needles. Surprisingly however, the plasma bang gets the Elite after all.

02:28 A frag takes care of a Jackal approaching the central gap, and then I get back to the threat from the right, featuring three Elites. A blue gets close but I shake him up with a frag then finish with needles. Just as he's going bang I throw a frag towards the hog where a second blue is heading, but he escapes death and backs off. Meanwhile I've spotted an Elite at the central gap and I send almost a whole clips of needles his way. Even before he goes bang, a needling blue advances to the right, but takes damage from my frag then is easily finished off, partly with the aid of Marine fire. I don't even bother making him go bang; I save a few needles for once. Yet another blue advances, and this one does go bang.

02:58 I throw a plasma grenade to the semicircle, causing the final two Elites to leap clear. The one on the left is killed by my stream of needles but the other evades a first clip. He advances and I back off to try and save my health, but I fire a second clip as I go. He stops focusing on me, and then when I advance again, I see that they're about to pile in. He's a gonner for sure, so I needle a Grunt instead, who's a bit late to throw his plasma.

03:17 A yellow-shielded Jackal flees and I fire some needles after him, then throw a plasma, but it seems much too short so I throw a deeper one. However, he rolls and I think it takes him a bit closer to my first grenade, because it gets him after all.

03:26 After grabbing a few more needles, I start getting into the mopping up phase, and there's a nice tag on a fleeing Jackal around 3:46. I'm short of needles though, and have to go searching for more.

03:54 Spotting a dropped needler, I first swap my empty one for a plasma pistol nearby, so that when I then pick up the new needler, I don't lose what's left of its clip. I instantly needle a Grunt who tries to get me with a grenade, then I tag one of his buddies. Actually I think I was going for the Jackal in the semicircle, and the Grunt just happened to get his face in the way. I get the Jackal with needles when he flees, and pretty soon the mopping up is over. Seven Marines left, so I lost four.

04:28 (Play 3) Starting from back with the Marines this time, I frag a Jackal then try to shake up an advancing blue with a second throw, but he leaps clear. I get him with needles anyway. Another blue advances and I try a few plasma grenades, then finally rock his boat with a frag before sending him up in a pink explosion.

04:49 The other Elites seem to be holding back so I send out a clip of needles, getting an Elite and a Grunt. There's a Jackal up on the left who's bugging the Marines, so I throw a frag up there, but the Marines have already done likewise and the Jackal gets killed. As I move back, a blue comes galloping down towards the hog and I go for an ambitious tag, and get him! Even before he's gone bang however, I'm needling an Elite further back, and he goes bang too.

05:09 Under plasma fire from the two remaining Elites - both reds - I back off and top up with needles. One of the Marines is about to go raging out - "I'll take you all on!" - and I pile a stream into the red who's advanced, though it's too late to save the Marine. I needle a fleeing Grunt too, then tackle the final red. He's advanced to the hog and not easily targeted, then we're pretty much face to face but my clip has run dry. Not to worry though. Backing off, I reload while he swipes at me, then let him have it, while also evading multiple plasma balls.

05:36 Picking up a bunch of dropped grenades, I'm about to throw one towards the covies up on the left, but I hear a Marine throwing so I decide to head for the right instead. There are four Jackals over there. I get the nearest with a plasma grenade, then carefully lob a frag to clear up the rest. Most enjoyable. A Grunt takes me by surprise with his needler - I hadn't noticed him lurking in the shade - but I quickly give him some needles back.

05:54 With the right side now clear, I go on a carnage spree up the hill, then come back down and tag a Grunt. I've run out of needles but I spot a dropped needler and pick it up, then instantly tag a Grunt who emerged from the semicircle.

06:17 There's a bit more carnage up the hill now, with covies deeply into panic territory. Needling the fleeing Jackal is deeply satisfying and earns me a "Bad bad cyborg!" line from a Grunt - who I then pile a clip into.

06:34 That just leaves one Grunt, who runs around the rock. Expecting him to head for the Marines, I clamber up the rock and give him a nasty shock, jumping down while firing needles. He's toast for sure, but then I notice the plasma grenade nearby. Whoops! It's a nasty bang but I take it like a cyborg and live to fight another day. Looks like 4 Marine casualties again.

Closing remarks The first two plays were from February 10th, when I got into the needling. I had a good candidate for the third play but wasn't completely satisfied with it, so I did some more playing later, and got this final one on the 13th. The reason I chose that one were two memorable bits, namely the nice Elite tag around 5:00 (I'm not sure I've done a tag like that in my movies before) and the comedy ending. Of course, jumping down on that Grunt while needling him wasn't safe at all, but I was being deliberately gung-ho for the sake of movie entertainment.

© 2004-2020 by Rockslider