Needler & plasma pistol again - but now with extra vigour!

(6:37) Level 2 ('Halo') on Heroic. Back in BCM129 I used a needler and plasma pistol in the first of a sequence of rockslide megabattle movies featuring 11 Marines in a far area defence against 33 covies. In this triple-play return I again use that weapon combo, but this time trying to really stick it to the covies fast. In particular I'm a lot more proactive during early covie arrival. Oh, and watch out for a flying hog!

Released July 6th 2015, gameplay recorded February 23rd 2015.

00:02 (Play 1) On my way to the defence location via the rockslide, a blue Elite gets splattered head on. Pretty soon I've joined the squad, and I grab a plasma pistol to complete my combo.

00:26 Closing in on a couple of Jackals coming through the central gap, I take care of the first with a plasma ball and needles. I likewise fire a plasma ball at the second but it hits the first. My frag soon takes care of him though. Living dangerously for a moment, I stay near the gap and catch a red Elite with a plasma ball then follow with a plasma grenade before running clear. One of the Elites can be heard dying from the blast, but meanwhile I'm under attack from other covies and my shield is bleeping. There's a Grunt and a blue Elite near the rocky semicircle and I try to get the Elite with a plasma ball, but it hits the Grunt I think. However, the Elite doesn't pay enough attention to my plasma grenade and is killed by the blast.

00:51 With needler now topped up from the spare, I quickly kill two Elites up the left. A nasty red comes through the central gap and I take down his shield with a plasma ball, but it seems like my following stream of needles doesn't quite finish him, because I don't hear any scream. I'm moving off to attend to our right flank, but on the way I throw a couple of good plasmas.

01:11 As I pan right I'm blocked by a Warthog some fool has left in the way. By the time I've got around it to frag some minor covies, they've killed a Marine. Moving my attention back to the left, a red Elite gets a bunch of needles and goes flying amusingly in a chain reaction. There's an Elite left in the rocks, but as I head for a needle reload I hear him dying - finished off non-explosively by my needles I think.

01:33 A Jackal on the left kills a Marine before I needle him. When I head back right, there's another Jackal relentlessly advancing on the Marines, and unfortunately my plasma pistol is empty, which in the heat of battle I'd forgotten. Needles are far from ideal here but I fire a few anyway, and luckily a few connect to finish him off - which gives me a fresh plasma pistol at last. Continuing straight on, I quickly use it to take down the shield of a Jackal on the right, then I whack him dead.

01:52 It's mop-up time now, and enemy numbers are fairly low, so I'm never really in much danger as I work through them. A few shots miss, but never mind.

02:26 (Play 2) After a relatively uneventful drive in which no covies were killed, I'm ready with my combo once more. I again attack covies at the central gap to begin with, but no Elites are killed.

02:34 Backing off, I frag at least one Jackal on the left before turning my attention to Elites charging our way. I get a blue on the right with needles, then two more who come in close to the hog. A more distant fourth gets tagged, and flies away screaming.

02:58 Over on the left I start needling a fleeing Grunt, then quickly switch to an arriving Elite. I think my needles were just enough to get him, but meanwhile there's a red attacking near the hog. I pile in some needles and the bangs set off a chain reaction which sends the hog flying. Nice! Before it hits the ground I'm piling needles into the final Elite, and soon he's toast.

03:15 Only Grunts and Jackals left now, but there are a lot of them so I don't immediately charge out. My work includes a few nice grenade throws before that happens.

04:19 (Play 3) Again there were no covies killed during my drive to the far area. I quickly kill a Jackal and blue Elite near the central gap, then head to the right, zapping a panicking Grunt and whacking him dead. A frag blast and plasma ball put a blue Elite into rage mode, but meanwhile my focus switches to a red Elite attacking from the central gap. I needle him good, then finish the blue with leisurely plasma fire.

04:41 No time to rest though; here comes another red from the gap. He gets a plasma ball then a hefty dose of needles, enough to kill him though it takes a while. A blue approaches from the right and likewise dies from my needles, but he also fires a good stream himself. Having already diverted my attention to a red Elite arriving on the right, who I throw a plasma grenade at, I'm almost badly caught by the needles but my dodging saves me. Then I back off behind the squad, throwing a few plasmas as I go.

05:02 A blue Elite is attacking the squad and evades my needles, moving to the right. I close in and somehow manage to miss with an almost point-blank plasma ball, so I tag him instead. While he's standing there growling, a Jackal's plasma ball sails in and I think that's what kills him, fractionally before my grenade goes off.

05:13 That leaves only one Elite now. He soon comes running out from the rocky semicircle and I catch him with a plasma ball. Most of my following needles miss and I end up smacking him down instead.

05:28 Time to clear up the Grunts and Jackals now, but there are quite a few and I've lost health, so I'm cautious about advancing for a while. At the very least I need to recharge first. A few Marines do good work with frags - nice to see.

05:55 Advancing at last, I hastily grab a fresh plasma pistol after whacking a Jackal. Rapid fire from a Grunt behind gets my shield bleeping, and I hastily get him with a plasma ball. I see his buddy approaching and decide to jump into the rocky semicircle to attack the covies from behind. Laying down a plasma grenade which is clearly going to kill a yellow-shielded Jackal, I hop straight back out and fire a plasma ball at another Jackal as I go. I follow up with a grenade too but it turns out to be redundant. With the final Jackal and Grunt I take some nasty fire - they were really getting into that - but I enjoy taking them out with vicious streams of needles, and manage to retain four health bars.

Closing remarks In the sequence opener BCM129 I was fairly standoffish to begin with in the battles, partly so the Marines got a good showing in the movie. But later I wanted to try the needler and plasma pistol combo again but with more aggression. I wanted to see how far I could raise the pace, especially at the start of battle. So I did some plays and saved the best three for a future movie.

My driving routes for these three plays were quite similar so I skipped the ones for the second and third. That also enabled me to show three battles without the movie getting overly long. Measured over the fighting in the far area, these battles were on average about 20 seconds faster compared to the ones in BCM129.

© 2004-2020 by Rockslider