This covie flyboy is in quite a pickle at the bridge - and it's my job to make him regret it!

(5:56) Level 5 ('Assault on the Control Room') on Heroic. While investigating ways of getting the Banshee stuck in the bridge rim in order to grab it, the Banshee got stuck in an unusual place. After a few attempts at pilot agitation I decided to get a checkpoint. Good decision, because I was able to have a lot of fun with the situation, mostly revolving around ejecting the pilot and killing him - including with additional weapons fetched later. You'll see a few mishaps too.

Released April 28th 2016, gameplay recorded April 14th-27th 2016.

00:02 (Banshee gets stuck) The situation arose when I was testing a method for getting the Banshee stuck in the corner of the bridge rim. It was mentioned in an early update of my Banshee grab article and I quoted a success rate of 56%, but I later retracted it after finding that for other checkpoint situations it didn't work. Basically I advance to the right of the door frame and stand there, then back off after the Banshee's second volley. In this case it gets stuck in an unusual place, and after getting rid of the Grunts I take a look.

00:21 (Initial messing) I try a few things to try to get the pilot ejected. A couple of shots, and also I tag the tip of the trapped wing - during which a plasma ball flies in and catches me. Pesky Jackals!

00:52 (Getting a checkpoint) At this point I decide to get a checkpoint to check into the situation more thoroughly. Besides which, those Jackals are annoying me so I want to get them out of the picture. I trigger the bridge checkpoint then keep it delayed until back near the Banshee. Initially I tried to get it right near the Banshee (not shown), but that didn't work so I backed off and got it near the Shade.

01:08 (Clambering, grenade mishap) In my first play from the checkpoint I do a bit of clambering about on the Banshee, and throw and few grenades. Unfortunately a plasma sticks where I wasn't expecting it too: in mid-air between the tail fins! It doesn't end well.

01:42 (Tag) Now we move into a sequence of 19 further plays, put together from hundreds I did after saving the checkpoint. Early on, I found that tagging the dangling wing tip gave a decent chance of ejection (like maybe 20%), so here's a first example from the upper deck, in which the pilot gets tagged. Quite a tricky tag to pull off though, because you can't be sure quite how he's going to pop out, and often he'll be moving away from you. I missed loads.

01:52 (Unprompted ejection) After a while focusing on the upper deck, I started checking out what I could do down below. In this early example something unusual happens. The pilot gets ejected without me even tagging the Banshee. That only happened once. I partly included this clip for the interest of that novelty, but also to briefly give the distant Grunts a showing, to set the scene. In some of the other clips you'll hear them.

02:11 (Falling, zap 'n whack) One fun thing to do is to fall with the pilot and kill him before he dies from the fall. In this first of four examples I close in with some zapping then whack him dead. Targeting my fire wasn't easy; I needed to aim further down than I wanted to hit.

02:22 (Tag) Here's a simple pilot tag from the lower deck. He gets stuck on his pointing arm, then seems to look at the grenade. I add a few pistol shots for good measure.

02:31 (Falling, rocket) After doing a lot of playing with my initial save featuring a pistol and plasma pistol, I produced another in which I'd fetched a rocket launcher and sniper rifle and got a new delayed checkpoint near the Banshee. Turned out to be a good idea, because it made for more variety in the movie and the launcher especially was a lot of fun. This clip shows a first bit of rockety action. And as you can see, I'm tagging the Banshee in a new place: the tip of the canopy.

02:41 (Long bounce-tag) In this attempt at a long-range tag my aim is considerably off, but I get lucky. The grenade bounces off the cliff and gets the pilot on the back. Mind you, he dies just before it goes off.

02:52 (Missed tag) This one's just a comedy clip. I miss the falling pilot with my grenade and it sticks to the tip of the dangling Banshee wing instead, then goes off in my face. Bah!

03:02 (Clambering, grenade mishap) Another spot of trouble when clambering about on top of the Banshee. When I tag the dangling wing tip, it turns out that I'm too close. The Banshee is freed up and the pilot has a good laugh.

03:16 (Pilot on Banshee) On rare occasions when the pilot ejected, he'd end up supported by the Banshee. Here's a good example seen from the lower deck. I tag him in the face then back off in case he jumps my way - but he doesn't.

03:36 (Gold Elite assist) I had the idea of trying to get the gold Elite to destroy the Banshee with a sword swipe, and here's the result. I've cut several seconds of being chased, to keep the pace of the movie up. I made loads more tries later but this remained the only successful one. It was hard to get clear of the chasing Elite to be able to get onto the Banshee well ahead of him, and then it was hard to jump off just right to get clear of his final swipe. It's a tricky jump even without a gold Elite closing in on you!

03:58 (Sniping) Time to bring the sniper rifle into play. In this example I take my time and get a headshot, then zoom in further to watch the spinning body.

04:07 (Pilot on Banshee) Another example of the pilot getting ejected onto the Banshee. I close in, tag him on the foot, then rocket the Banshee to launch him. He makes a nice inviting target up in the air, so naturally I fire a second rocket - and it looks like I score a direct hit.

04:27 (Close-range rocket) More rockety goodness. Down on the lower deck I have a fine opportunity for rocketing the pilot at close range - as seen here!

04:35 (Pilot on bridge) Very unusually, the pilot gets ejected onto the bridge. After putting him on the defensive with a plasma ball, I subsequently notice the Banshee flip prompt, and use it. The wing tip comes skimming across the ground and the pilot leaps off the bridge. A novel way of getting rid of him!

04:52 (Falling, AR) I fetched the AR which I'd discarded early in the level, then got a new delayed checkpoint to have some plays with it. In this example I drill the pilot as we fall, and finish him with a whack.

05:01 (Clambering, last-ditch plasma ball) More clambering about on the Banshee. This time after tagging it, my plan was to jump clear, but I mistime it and lose my shield. Also I fall off, which is a bit more serious. I'm a gonner for sure, but there's still time to send up a plasma ball. The Banshee goes boom just before I hit the ground.

05:18 (Long-range rocket) I've already shown a close-range rocket from the lower deck, so now here's a long-range rocket. A considerably harder shot of course.

05:27 (Banshee escape and tag) After jumping down to the rocky ledge, I tag the Banshee on the wing tip, causing it to escape. Then it circles around and meets up with my second grenade! Incidentally, the escape is what I was trying for. I'd already tried the wing tip tag from down there, and found that it wouldn't cause an ejection, but sometimes it freed the Banshee, so I did a bunch of plays trying for long-range tags.

05:43 (Falling, rocket in the face) Time to end with a bang. Specifically, a point-blank rocket in the face after closing in on the falling pilot. I think he got the message.

Closing remarks It's a good job I didn't damage the Banshee any more before getting the checkpoint (I shot it twice and tagged the trapped wing tip), otherwise it might not have been able to subsequently survive an ejection-causing tag, and I'd never have had all this fun! Next time I get an oddly stuck Banshee, I'll probably try to get a checkpoint right away. Also I'll make sure to be stocked with plasmas. Here I only had two, which occasionally left me wanting another. There was a loose one nearby which I could always quickly pick up, but it was inconvenient. A further drawback of my set-up here was that my flashlight didn't have much time left to run. The set-up was very much a spur-of-the-moment thing. If I'd known how much recreation this situation was going to provide, I would've taken more care.

There were so many ways of having fun with this situation, I had no trouble getting enough good clips for the movie. And in fact I'm not done with this Banshee yet - there's more to come! Not sure when.

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