You bring the drinks and snacks, I'll bring the rocket launcher!

(6:51) Level 5 ('Assault on the Control Room') on Normal. In this movie I lead the rear mob over to the Wraith's ice patch for some fun 'n games - which is to say, slaughtering the lot of 'em! Plenty of plasma rifle use here, and in two of the plays I couple it with a rocket launcher and let the covies have a Ghost.

Released April 26th 2024, gameplay recorded April 15th-23rd 2024.

00:02 (Play 1 - Plasma rifle & AR) In this opening play I cruise on out to the ice patch and settle the Banshee there, where I can potentially use it for a bit of cover (although this time I never do). With the covies coming from so far away, their arrival is multi-wave, making for an interesting dynamic. Broadly speaking it's a case of Elites first, then Grunts, then Jackals. The Hunters are less predictable. If they latch on well to you early on, they could be in the fore. Other times they lose touch entirely.

I do reasonably well here with the Elites, but I can't overstate how much of a threat the Grunts and Jackals pose in such numbers. In recording for the movie I was overwhelmed by them countless times. In this play their courage is bolstered by a blue Elite arriving late and I go down to my last health bar, but just manage to pull through.

02:01 (Play 2 - Plasma rifle & rocket launcher) Partly to add some variation, this time I let the covies have a Ghost, and I grab the rocket launcher. As it turns out, the Ghost doesn't last very long! After destroying it, I use the Banshee as a platform for some further rocketing, taking out four of the remaining six Elites (including the two reds, the biggest threat), but then it's time to get down and start moving around. Nice tag on a blue Elite just after that!

03:48 (Play 3 - Plasma rifle & AR) We're back to basics now, and unlike in the previous play, the Hunters are to the fore of the covie attack - and I take them down with plasma fire, along with a blue Elite. But then I mess up a throw, accidentally tagging the Banshee. Not good news, with six Elites closing in! However, with the help of two tags (the first of which was actually meant for the other red Elite) and a few frags, I manage to wipe out the Elites, and then go on to secure victory.

05:06 (Play 4 - Plasma rifle & rocket launcher) It's rocket time again, and once more the covies have a Ghost. I did a load of playing for this final slot, and eventually got this play which involves using the Ghost as bait for other Elites, something I was specifically trying for to add variation to the movie. And in particular I tag one of the Elites as he boards, which is also something I wanted.

I still need some good work after that however, especially when a final Elite turns up (which took me by surprise as I'd lost count). I'm helped along by a nice rocket on a bunch of Jackals around 6:10, and fortunately I get the Elite with tube two just afterwards, causing some welcome grunty panic, and enabling me to pull through with two health bars left. Could easily have been killed if it hadn't been for the two good rocket shots though.

There's just a Hunter left, and I send the Banshee his way to make him jump, then rocket him. That made an amusing novel ending for the movie I thought; so at that point my recording work was finally done.

Closing remarks This battle plan turned out to be excellent, with its interesting multi-wave arrival dynamic. It gave me a lot of challenging play. Actually, the mass of covies arriving over a wide front (and the resulting heavy pressure) put me in mind of the superb far area defence in the rockslide megabattle. It's just a pity I can't use a rocket launcher in that scenario like I can here. Would've been nice!

My backlog of rear mob movie projects seems to be lessening now. At present I have two movies almost ready to go, plus a third which is shaping up nicely.

© 2004-2024 by Rockslider