Old trick, new method - using a Banshee grab!

(5:39) Level 5 ('Assault on the Control Room') on Heroic. Back in BCM8 I showed how to get seven extra Marines fast enough that the four Pelican Marines remain active, giving you ten active Marines in the first ground battle. It required a PAL bridge descent method though. This movie shows how to instead do things by grabbing the bridge Banshee - which also gives you a Banshee to fight with of course. I set things up with a convenient battle start checkpoint and show two plays - and how to add an extra hog.

Released June 1st 2017, gameplay recorded May 30th-31st 2017.

00:02 (Setting up) After grabbing the Banshee with my usual method (see my tutorial BCM191), I fly to the far end of the bridge. Note that I fly to the side of the bridge rather than closely over it, to avoid triggering further covies on the bridge, who'd really get in my face at the far end. I want a convenient battle start checkpoint, so I delay the post-bridge checkpoint, initially with jumping and later with Banshee fire, though in both phases you could instead use grenade throws (at the obvious expense of not having so many grenades available for use in battle). After going far enough to trigger enemies in the second room, I return to the Banshee and fly down to the door, and dismount, ready to back up to trigger the battle. I get the checkpoint and save it.

Note that the Banshee got a bit damaged after I grabbed it. I could've reduced the risk of damage by quickly killing the nearest covies, especially the ejected pilot, but I just didn't bother (and I'd hoped to splatter the pilot as I left). Next time though, I think I'll be more careful to end up with a Banshee in good shape.

01:07 (Play 1) For this first example play I fight on foot, after a brief bit of flying. For most of the battle I somewhat outpace the Marines, speeding things along, but you could get more atmosphere by keeping them nearer. If you're wondering about the checkpoint at the end, that was the 'midway checkpoint' triggered earlier when getting past the Wraith's ice patch. It got delayed due to enemy threat, but other times you might get it earlier. It's undesirable to get it if you want another battle, because you'll have to reload the game; you can't just revert. You could always avoid it by making sure it stays delayed - e.g. by jumping when not under enemy threat - but I didn't want to be including that sort of artificial behaviour in the movie.

03:01 (Play 2) For the second example play I stick with the Banshee. The highlight is where I flip the Banshee by ramming it from behind when it's distracted by the Marines. That's good fun, and was a definite tactic I had in mind to show. I just needed to wait for the right moment. One other thing I'll mention. When I trigger the battle, the nearest Shade Grunt can be seen materializing ahead in mid-air and then being moved to the Shade (there are two frames in which he's in mid-air). It seems to me like that only happens if you're looking somewhat to the left, where the Shade is. Interesting.

04:50 (Getting an extra hog too) If you want an extra hog too, you need to trigger the battle while aboard the original. However, if you also want to stop the Pelican Marines going inactive, the trigger has to happen before they end their runs. So, board the hog as soon as it drops, and trigger the battle quick. In this example clip I arrange to get a delayed checkpoint shortly before the hog is dropped.

Closing remarks The battling was fun! I think I'll do another movie on that sometime. Maybe a triple play.

Remember Johnson's hidden all-clear speech? Contrary to expectation, I haven't heard it at all when using this battle save. Not sure why that is. Also I seem to be short of one Elite. Maybe I'll check into this.

For setting up the battle, I used a copy of the save seen used in BCM190 at 2:52. It features a Grunt at the start who raises the alarm but initially just stands around harmlessly - which is why I ignored him.

Reminder: If you want to preserve your ten Marines as best as you can for later use, follow the procedure shown in BCM41 around 2:24.

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