My original mob battle set-up plan from 2006, demonstrated at last…

(7:12) Level 5 ('Assault on the Control Room') on Heroic. This demonstrates my general set-up plan for a mob battle. Unlike the plan for getting ten Marines (see BCM346), you get all the prep time you want, which is useful. Among the prep options used here, I add a few spare weapons to the battlefield (you could add lots more) plus a Ghost for personal use, and I arrange to get two extra Marines, making a squad of five.

Released April 30th 2019, gameplay recorded April 26th-28th 2019.

00:02 (Descent and Banshee destruction) The overall procedure is detailed in my article so I mostly won't repeat things here, just make a few comments. With this particular set-up I elect to do a bridge descent rather than a Banshee grab, as it lets me get a fully charged plasma rifle via Banshee destruction. I'm planning to enter battle with that plus a full AR. Not that this is my favourite combo for the battle, but I wanted to feature a different combo this time, and it also demonstrates how you can optimally provision for these weapons.

01:03 (Killing bridge troops) I breeze through the bridge troops fairly quickly (I've only cut about 16 seconds here, which covered 5 kills). Eliminating them has various benefits, including giving you spare weapons. I deliberately trigger the second group but avoid triggering the third. The checkpoint for that last trigger can be useful.

01:54 (Augmenting the base area) After throwing a few weapons off the bridge, I fly down and do some augmentation of the base area, equipping it with three spare weapons, a Shade and a Ghost. Eagle-eyed watchers might notice that the plasma pistol I threw off the bridge had charge 78, whereas the one I move into position has charge 74. I picked up the wrong one without noticing. It come from a Grunt who fell off the lower deck (not shown). Oh well, didn't matter much. Of course, I could've put a lot more weapons around the battlefield; but I kept it simple for the tutorial.

Incidentally, I deliberately put the weapons and Ghost outside the link-up area, just in case I ever want to access those without linking up with the Marines. But that's just a detail.

02:57 (Plasma rifle) To move the plasma rifle into position for picking up later, I use a few Banshee blasts before dismounting. Actually, Banshee blasts carry some risk. There was one time when I blasted it and it hit the base of a rock and fell through the map! My blasting here was fairly careful though.

03:22 (Shade moving) I want this Shade overturned, but also I want it distant from the door so the Grunt won't tangle with the two Marines who'll be running out. Some blasting and ramming get the job done pretty fast. In retrospect it would've been better to have it even more distant though. As you'll see later, the Grunt still runs towards where he should've been, and gets a bit close to the emerging Marines. You can hear him firing a few needles.

03:34 (Getting two extra Marines) For this set-up I'm getting two extra Marines, but with extra work you can get three (see BCM40). The main reason I went for only two was for tutorial simplicity.

04:15 (Going up and returning) After checkpointing and resuming normal play, I use my throw-away plasma pistol for shooting, and get my AR topped up for battle. Incidentally, that initial bit of covie slaying was actually from a separate play - just because it was more entertaining than in my actual play. More instructive too though, showing a frag tactic working well. Back at my waiting two Marines, I save the exit checkpoint for safety.

05:08 (Finishing off) I don't want an extra hog, so I get the Marines dismounted. The hog vanishes and they run out (you later get a glimpse of them heading for base). Once I've triggered the covies into chasing me, I overturn the two Ghosts. There were some takes when that didn't work out (e.g. if the Elite was already boarding or there were minor covies too close), and I just reverted. Then I eject the Shade gunner and draw the covies away from the Wraith. After ejecting the Wraith pilot, I blast one Ghost to the back Elite (this time he'll have an undamaged Ghost, unlike before) and the other to a central location. Then I get my battle start checkpoint. I elected to have the covies in the same area as last time, as it seems pretty ideal.

Closing remarks The eventual save features 17 covies, comprising 4 Elites, 5 Jackals and 8 Grunts. My last set-up was Jackal heavy, so this time I specifically wanted it Grunt heavy for contrast (this also increases the enemy count by one). Of the four Elites, only one is red. That's the same as last time. I'd had in mind to get two, but this set-up worked out well enough so I settled for just one. In any case I've only got five Marines this time, and they'd have a tough time facing up against two reds! Incidentally, my Marines are in good health, each with 7 or 8 bars. I checked by getting them aboard the hog.

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