A double dose of hard-fought megabattling in the far area, with the questionable help of Stacker and Johnson…

(6:39) Level 2 ('Halo') on Heroic. This shows two plays of a rockslide megabattle save featuring 34 covies, using the far area defence plan with Stacker and Johnson, and restricting myself to a plasma rifle and needler. Pretty tough work, with the covies really pushing forward. All the Elites have plasma rifles, and four are red.

Released February 13th 2013, gameplay recorded August 8th 2012.

00:02 (Play 1) "What the?" Yes Sarge, it's the Covenant. Again. On our curving route across the battlefield, one Grunt obligingly dives under the wheels and another gets a hog in da face. A right jink up the hill gives a Jackal a nasty surprise, and soon we're at the defence location. I quickly get Stacker and Johnson out and move the hog clear, then get ready with a plasma rifle and needler, left here earlier with a plasma pistol.

00:42 The Elites are dawdling a little today, which is bad news. That typically leads to an extra-nasty time because their arrivals won't be so staggered. When I finally see a red galloping forward from the left, I let him advance a bit, then lob a frag and stun him with plasma fire so he stops near where the frag lands. He gets the full force of the explosion, and a touch more plasma finishes him off. One down, six to go.

00:56 I take down a blue on the right with plasma fire, then there's another red on the left to deal with. He's already giving Stacker a hard time. After a bit of plasma I use pretty much the same frag 'n stun tactic I used before, and it works nicely. A Jackal goes down from my plasma fire, then I get to work on a third red. He escapes some of my needles and a frag lands short - I thought he was going to advance further - but I finish him off with plasma.

01:22 I hear a plasma ball being fired to my right, and turn to deal with the beaky firer. I throw a frag and see that it's good, so I turn straight back to focus on an advancing blue. Plasma does the job pretty quickly but I get an overheat, so I switch to the needler to take out his buddy. Very satisfying too, and Stacker approves: "Hey hey hey!"

01:35 There's a red back by the rocky semicircle and I try to get him with needles, but he's good at dodging so I go back to the rifle, and also take time to lob a plasma grenade at a Jackal on the right. Soon as I see it land, I know he's toast. The red gets driven back to cover for a while, which is just as well because I'm soon under pressure from a succession of minor enemies. I do some good work but Johnson goes down. Dang!

02:18 The red advances again, just as I'm reloading my needler. It's not the right weapon here because he's running across my field of view, so I get the rifle out again and charge forth, which also enables me to escape needles being fired by a Grunt on the left. By the time the rifle is overheating I'm close enough to finish the red with a whack, and that sends the Grunt running. A Jackal doesn't let up though, and his fire makes me back off from the fresh rifle I was about to pick up.

02:35 With shield recharging, it looks like the main danger period is over. After taking down a soft Grunt on the right, I finally get the new rifle and clear the way as I advance to the rocks. This is mopping up time now. I send a long stream of needles into a Grunt who's out in the open - I do like a bit of needler overkill - and a chain reaction sends him flying off. A Jackal and a couple of Grunts fire aggressively, but two go bang from needle explosions and the Jackal gets toasted with my plasma rifle. Seeing a Grunt running off to the right and probably about to turn left into the rocks, I go for a tag and land it nicely. That just leaves one Grunt, who goes bye-bye from a whack on the head.

03:09 (Play 2) Here we go again, and this time I take a more direct route across the battlefield before threading my way through part of the rockslide as before. The Jackal does a little better on this occasion, at least getting a shot off before going splat.

03:43 There's no delay in the covie attack this time. A red comes running our way pronto and I take him down with plasma fire. Right after that a blue approaches from the right and it's plasma time again. I don't quite manage to finish him off before he takes cover behind the hog, but that just gives me a nice excuse to use a frag. BOOM! He's even kind enough to donate his plasma rifle to my cause, and a couple of grenades too. Ta very much!

04:08 I use plasma fire and grenades to try and keep Elites back by the rocks but a blue advances. My rifle overheats but I switch to the needler and let him run onto some needles as he takes a swipe at me. He goes bang rather nicely as I dodge an incoming plasma ball. Stacker nonsensically yells "Nice throw!" even though I didn't use a grenade for the kill. Soon after that I get a red with a long-distance stream of needles and it panics some Grunts, but the pressure doesn't let up much. I get a Jackal with a plasma grenade, then - with shield gone - a red with plasma fire.

04:43 My frag lands too far past the Jackal I was going for, but at least it makes him dive. I have better luck with the frag I throw afterwards at the rocky semicircle, taking out a Grunt and shaking up an Elite. I frag a closer Jackal by the tree, then get the earlier one with plasma fire. Another blue advances but I take care of him with needles and plasma. Couple of Grunts go down too.

05:08 A plasma grenade sees off a Jackal about to sneak in from the right, but then I'm under fire from a red. I manage to make him retreat, giving me time to take care of some closer threats. When I get out my needler and start using it on him, it quickly needs reloading. I give him a full clip and they find their target, sheltering behind the tree. Just as he's going bang I find a new plasma rifle to pick up, but I also notice an incoming plasma ball. I pick it up anyway and take the hit. There's not much close pressure though (I knew that), so I soon recharge.

05:46 Unlike at this stage in the first play, Johnson is still alive and he finishes off a Grunt: "Wasted!" Nice work Sarge. With all Elites gone, it's mopping up time and I advance with needles and plasma. A Jackal gets a whack on the head - he'd been annoying me - and then a Grunt doesn't quite have the time to say "Whuh, I'm outta here!" before getting the same treatment. I make it a thumpy triple by whacking his fleeing colleague.

06:02 A couple of Jackals are pestering Stacker and I help out. Plasma fire takes down the closest and I leave a stream of needles to do its work on the other. By the time he goes bang I've already about-faced to work on a Jackal and Grunt to the left, and they both get the needle treatment.

06:18 A last Grunt approaches and seems to be under the grave misunderstanding that he can tackle a seven foot cyborg all by himself. A pip of plasma quickly gets him into a panic while I pick up a few more plasma grenades (not that I needed them, but I don't think I bothered to glance at my HUD's grenade indicator). I then do a double-tag launch for a stylish ending. What's the view like up there grunty?

Closing remarks I actually recorded these battles several months ago, a few days after releasing BCM52 and BCM53, which showed far area defences with a large squad. I was in the mood for a greater challenge in that area; and when you've only got two bozos helping you out, that sure makes a difference! I figured I'd release one as a movie sometime later, but I've decided here to give you a double dose.

By the way, the save used here wasn't the same as the one used in BCM2, which likewise featured Stacker and Johnson. In the save used here, Stacker's on the chain-gun. Also the Elite arrivals tend to be more spread out, rather than forming a big early rush. Both saves derived from a common base save though, which is why the rock geometry is the same.

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