Normally you go to a beach for a nice relaxing break. Not this one!

(5:33) Level 4 ('The Silent Cartographer') on Legendary. In this movie I tackle the landing battle in various ways, saving the Marines each time. The 'needler grab' plan is my old favourite but the similar 'plasma pistol grab' is a nice variation, and the 'centre attack' is pretty good too I think. Anyway, perhaps some ideas for you here if you want to go a few rounds. Part two coming next, plus I'm going to write an article for my level 4 fun section.

Released January 15th 2025, gameplay recorded January 10th-11th 2025.

00:02 (Needler grab) My favourite 'needler grab' plan of old is basically to quickly get the needler held by one of the two Grunts on the left, and make good use of it. For starters you can attack the Elite from the side, giving a nice crossfire, and that's what I do here. I subsequently swap my pistol for his plasma rifle, my preferred weapon for slaughtering the middle group of covies fast. Then when I get to the final group, needle streams fired at the Elites are the key element. Amusingly, the second Elite gets a plasma ball in the back too.

01:15 (Centre attack, pistol & AR) The idea of a 'centre attack' is to attack up the centre, and the natural strategy is to take out the initial Grunts fast before focusing on the Elite. Here I'm limiting myself to the pistol & AR as a challenge, and the pistol is certainly great for getting the initial Grunts. Around 1:54 an Elite gets a plasma ball in the back. Noticing it, I take him down with a headshot. At the end I'm caught short with my AR needing a reload, so I throw a plasma instead, and fortunately it hits the target.

02:17 (Plasma pistol grab) This plan is like the needler grab except for a plasma pistol. And as you see here, it can potentially take out both Elites fast, coupled with a pistol. With the final group of covies I circle around the structure to do a rear attack, a fun tactic I often use, especially if my shield is down. On this occasion I miss with my initial plasma ball, which was annoying. But two close-range plasma balls do their job, and things work out okay. I even still have full health!

03:19 (Pistol only) As a challenge I limit myself to a pistol here. It's not ideal for going in hard on the second group, so I instead skirt around and throw some grenades in, which works out nicely. A Grunt gets tagged (I didn't even see him) and takes it to the Elite, heh!

As for the final group, I realise that they haven't been triggered into action, which happens sometimes. I endeavour to take them by surprise, but don't do a very good job of it. In fact I'd somewhat forgotten how best to tackle things in such a situation, so I improvised. My initial two plasmas essentially went to waste, but at least I then manage to tag an Elite, and that does the main damage.

04:26 (Needler grab again) Another needler grab to finish, but this time I couple it with the plasma pistol dropped by the other Grunt. Nice ending, when I circle around and pile in the needles. By that time there was just an Elite left; I'd got the other one with needles already, and also fragged the Jackals.

Closing remarks With all these plays, I checked that there were indeed still six Marines at the end. And actually, in every battle you can see it for yourself in the footage. Another five plays coming soon!

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