Another far area defence with a large squad, but this time using just an AR…

(4:28) Level 2 ('Halo') on Heroic. This shows a rockslide megabattle against 33 covies, using the far area defence plan with an 11-man squad, and restricting myself to an AR.

Released August 5th 2012, gameplay recorded August 2nd 2012.

00:02 Here I'm using a different save to that used in BCM52. You can already notice that early on from the fact that the final dropship is still present near the lifeboat, adding to the atmosphere. I take a winding route over there to give it a drive-by for fun. A Grunt obligingly dives under my wheels on the way, and another gets mown down as I pass the island plateau. I get hit with a plasma ball just before the shooter dives clear, but fortunately it doesn't lose me any more health; I remain one bar down. Soon after that, you can see that I've got the squad in a different position to before. They're much closer to the left exit, so the enemy will have longer to go to close in, and the Marines won't get pestered by standard fire from Jackals on the edge of the rockslide, like they were in BCM52.

00:34 In this play I'm restricting myself to an AR for added challenge, so I pick it up from my spares before joining the Marines. Johnson sees the threat - "More! Over here!" - and the party gets off to a quick start. I switch my flashlight on so Marines show up better in the shadow. Elites close in quickly and I do some decent work with frags to help bring them down while the Marines are busy shooting each other in the back. My blasts kill two blues and badly shake up a third, who starts growling. It would be nice if the Marines would finish him off while I'm reloading, but either they're missing badly or they're focused on the more distant red for some reason. Pretty sure it's my shots that finish the blue.

01:11 I give the red a good drilling then throw a plasma for a tag. It looks like it's going to hit, so I'm surprised when it sails past. Inspecting the footage, I think it skimmed past his waist as he moved forward; but he was lucky. He's growling as I reload, but the Marines finish him off. After moving across to briefly try and target a panicking Grunt, I turn back and tag a new red on the nose - hee hee!

01:30 It's not all a laughing matter though; another red arrives from the left and brings down Sergeant Johnson with plasma fire. He dodges my attempted tag, and a second throw goes over his head as he closes in (I was really being a bit optimistic trying to score another tag on the head), so I opt for just charging in and drilling him at point-blank range. I see a plasma ball coming in, and the Elite collects it from behind just as he's about to thump me. Very helpful; thanks Mr Jackal!

01:45 Time for a bit of a breather as the pressure reduces. I lob a plasma over to a Jackal on the right but it bounces off his shield and looks like it'll be too far away. However, the blast sets off a plasma closer to him, so he gets taken out anyway.

01:55 After that I head back to the left and start peppering some Grunts, but then I realize there's a blue Elite needling the Marines from near where that Jackal was. Can't see him but I make a good frag throw past the base of the tree and I'm pretty sure it shakes him badly. As I continue to pepper Grunts, killing one, I hear him growling and manage to reload in time to finish him off before he fires any more needles; and he donates a plasma grenade to my cause, which is nice.

02:17 As I kill the second of two panicking Grunts, I hear a plasma ball being fired and move aside to dodge it. An advancing Jackal moves past my plasma throw but I tag him with the next as he rolls. The blast sets off another and his body sails over me. I make a swiping movement but that was just wishful thinking in the heat of the action, as he's much too high.

02:34 Into the mopping up phase now. After a bit of AR peppering here and there, blue-shielded Jackals advance from the rocky semicircle. When I see the nearest one suddenly retreat with shield overhead, I take the opportunity to turn him into a walking bomb. Obligingly, he heads back and takes out his buddy plus a Grunt. Love that tactic.

02:57 Various Grunts go down from my fire, and a Jackal gets blasted by a long-range plasma which lands behind him. Not too bright these beaky fellows! After that I briefly advance but then run off to find a few more plasmas to maybe have fun with; I'm not in any great rush to finish off. When I turn back, three Jackals have been drawn towards the rocky semicircle. I land a plasma in a pretty good place and two of them dive, then I follow with another. I was trying to tag the nearest one, but it misses. Things work out nicely though, as the two bangs do the business.

03:46 Almost done now. A Grunt goes down easily, then I pepper the Jackal to make him roll, enabling me to tag him on the head for a satisfying ending. Three Marines survivors this time, but both sergeants are dead. Better luck next time eh?

Closing remarks For this second movie with a large squad in the far area, I could've used the same save as for BCM52 but I thought it would be nice to show a different squad position. As well as that, this alternative save featured an early re-entry, enabling me to do a nice drive-by of the dropship. Enjoyed that.

If you're wondering why I didn't have the spare weapons nearer the squad, I think this old save was produced using a base save in which the weapons had already been placed (anticpating a squad position more like as seen in BCM52), and I just wasn't too fussed about shifting them for the new squad arrangement. At that point I was still trying things out. On the plus side, having the spares clear of the squad should at least help keep them safer from getting blasted away by plasmas or loose frags going off.

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