This bridge may be down but that won't stop my needles crossing the gap!

(6:12) Level 5 ('Assault on the Control Room') on Heroic. This cavern megabattle focuses on attacking from the broken bridge using long-range needling plus sniping and grenades. There are 35 covies, including an Elite who fell onto a pipe. I have 12 Marines along for company. Johnson is left behind because I don't want him sniping.

Released November 28th 2016, gameplay recorded November 25th 2016.

00:02 After getting Stacker off the hog, I shift a Ghost from the blockade to release the Marines, and soon I'm on the the end of a protruding girder at the broken bridge, with the Marines gathered behind me. From my advanced position, needles have just enough range to reach covies opposite. I scan around with my sniper scope for a while before getting down to business.

01:04 To start things off I go for a long-range tag on a sleeping Grunt, having learnt the approximate throw elevation to use. He gets tagged on the arm and I snipe him when he goes flying.

01:24 Now the needling begins, and this is really the main theme of the attack. I target a Grunt but the needles divert to a red Elite who was standing slightly closer. BLAM! Next a I get a blue Elite. No trouble.

01:49 After sniping a Hunter in the back, I see a Grunt in my sights, but while I"m reloading the needler I notice an Elite moving in towards the middle, so I go for a double kill. The first part of my clip piles into the Elite, and the rest into the Grunt. Nice!

02:06 Next I needle a blue Elite, then enjoy sniping a panicking Jackal. After that, a Hunter takes a shot and throw a plasma grenade over, tagging him (though not on purpose).

02:33 Another blue Elite gets needled, then there's some more business with the Hunters and I snipe one in the back. Two left.

03:11 A Grunt arrives and gets the needle treatment. "Not again!" Yes grunty, again.

03:34 After sniping a Grunt, I spot an inviting concentration of five Jackals near a pipe. I bounce a frag off the bottom of the pipe and it lands neatly behind them, blasting four - and then I snipe a Grunt. A very pleasing frag.

03:57 I snipe a blue-shielded Jackal then focus on a Hunter. Four shots get him mad and he about-faces to start heading my way, then I get him in the back. That's three Hunters killed now, but where's the fourth? He was last seen around 3:00 but is never seen again. I think he must've fallen over the edge shortly after.

04:28 After sniping another Jackal, I scan around then decide to mop up with a quick bridge assault. Needling takes care of the first three Elites, and once across the bridge I get a blue with plasma fire and a smack on the head. The red Elite on the pipe gets tagged.

05:42 I finish off by needling a couple of Grunts on the left. After that, the Marines are rather talkative and have conflicting ideas of the state of play. Some are anxious, others think it's all clear. Unusual.

Closing remarks My previous eleven cavern megabattle movies have all used Normal, and nine of them used one particular save. But this time I'm on Heroic. How come? This save just seemed better for an attack from the broken bridge, because more covies tended to gather opposite. Actually I could've done some Banshee flying to attract more - a set-up tactic mentioned on my battle plans page - but I forgot about that.

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