Fun is most definitely on the cards here as I lead the covies up to a lovely ambushing spot, three times…

(6:38) Level 3 ('The Truth and Reconciliation') on Normal. This shows three plays of the dustbowl megabattle seen created in BCM77, featuring 43 covies. I use the top path defence each time but vary my weaponry from play to play.

Released August 24th 2013, gameplay recorded August 14th-20th 2013.

00:02 (Play 1: Assault rifle) Heading out from where I got the checkpoint, I use a bit of fire to alert the nearby Elites, which generally causes covies to flock down into the dustbowl. After jumping over a blue, a few Elites fire up into the air where I used to be. Too late fellas! I smack a Grunt in the face for amusement, and another Grunt brushes against me which causes an outbreak of fire. I'm living a bit dangerously hanging around here and not paying attention to whether other covies might brush against me, but I wanted to show you a bit of wild covie fire - of which there's more when I head for the top path. Usually I'd try to avoid covies on the way however; partly out of safety and partly to avoid losing any to friendly fire.

00:40 As I near my defence position, my cloaking wears off and a Grunt raises the alarm. Just before the first covies reach me, I lob a plasma at the Jackal I passed, but my aim is slightly off. It hits his shield and bounces into the advancing troops below, subsequently killing a few Grunts. Meanwhile however, a red Elite arrives and I give him a nice close-range drilling. A plasma grenade gives the unseen covies something to think about while I reload, and at least one Jackal bites the dust.

01:04 I do some more Elite drilling and dish out a few grenades, one of which tags a blue on the foot - I got lucky there. Nice bang, taking out a Jackal too. But by now the action is occurring somewhat thick and fast, so I won't try to describe everything. I'll just comment on some particular bits - and likewise in the later battles.

01:32 My frag blows a blue Elite my way and for a short while I use him as a shield while finishing him off. A plasma gets the next blue, who really should've paid better attention!

01:54 I tag a Grunt at close range and he starts running my way, so I give him an AR round to stop him, and the bang takes out a few of his pals. I tag another Grunt after that and get briefly worried about being too close to the bang (I felt a rock behind me, stopping me backing off further), but I get away with it.

02:05 Right at the end there's a lone Grunt on the bridge; apparently he never joined the crowd. I let my aim drift slowly between his eyes, then BAM! - that's that.

02:21 (Play 2: Sniper rifle) At the start of this play I stand on a rock near the middle of the dustbowl and you can see the covies flocking down from the periphery. Being on a rock reduces the chance of an enemy brushing against me as I watch.

02:49 Soon I'm heading into position ready for a defence with the sniper rifle. I go pretty deep to begin with. In some of my plays I grenaded the Shade off to make sure I wouldn't accidentally board it when reloading, but in this play I didn't bother.

02:58 I make a nice start with 10x magnification. Four shots, four kills. I lob a plasma grenade and get three Grunts on 2x before the grenade goes off and takes out an unseen Elite. I think I actually tagged him, because the footage appears to briefly shows the grenade bobbing about.

03:17 After a pause I throw another plasma and it lands right on the head of an arriving Grunt. Nice! After a bit more sniping another Elite arrives and escapes my fire, so I throw a frag, which takes him out in a chain reaction. The next Elite does get sniped however; and then a Grunt on the hill.

03:41 Time for another speculative plasma, and it lands on an arriving blue Elite, ha ha. He didn't even get chance to fire. Then a few seconds later the next blue arrives and gets the same treatment! Ok I admit it, I got pretty lucky with those throws, but it obviously helps that I was getting them in the right general area.

03:58 I miss a red Elite with my shots, but just like an earlier Elite, he gets taken out by a frag-induced chain reaction. After that, there are just a few minor enemies left, and they all get sniped.

04:20 (Play 3: Needler) This time I'm out to do some needling. There are already two needlers on the ground from dead Shade gunners, but I opt to start off by getting one from a Grunt in the dustbowl. A smack in the face elicits the line "Give it your best shot!", and I'm happy to oblige. I then deliberately brush against an Elite, causing him to swipe and comically kill a Grunt (and hurt another).

04:46 Time to get moving before my cloaking wears off. I take an alternative route to the top path (partly to demonstrate another option), topping up my needler at the Shade. I use a bit of AR fire on the Jackal, then get ready for the main action.

05:10 Normally I'd wait for covies to reach the holed rock which sticks out of the cliff wall, but here I start with a bit of a pre-emptive strike, needling the leading red as he gallops my way. I back off in a curve as I fire, to try and avoid most of his needles. I throw a plasma onto the ground after the needle bangs, but I should've waited a bit longer. A bang sets off a dropped plasma, which sends mine flying uselessly away.

05:19 A Jackal with shield overhead gets some needle treatment, but a blue Elite gets through. Quickly chasing after him while my plasma grenade keeps an arriving Grunt occupied, I send a stream of needles into his back and pick up some needles when he's dead. Throughout the battle I get an excellent supply of needles from felled covies.

05:27 With the arrival of a red Elite, my shield is soon bleeping but I take him out quick and get to work on some minor enemies. You'll notice me dodging some needles too. A few seconds after I throw a plasma at 5:34, I'm lucky not to get caught in a chain reaction. There were a few loose plasmas rather close to me and I would've been toast if they'd gone off.

05:48 The carnage continues as I drive a stream of needles into a Grunt. A Jackal misses me with a plasma ball, and my frag sends him flying. The final Elite is killed soon after, and then it becomes a case of having fun with the remaining covies - ending in a chain reaction.

Closing remarks With my old dustbowl megabattle movies BCM9 and BCM10, I only showed one battle each time, making rather short movies. In retrospect I wish I'd included extra plays to make for meatier viewing. Well, I won't be skimping any more! This time you got a triple dose, and the same will go for BCM79 which I'm releasing at the same time.

With this movie I even included the preamble phase for each battle - i.e. before the proper fighting breaks out. I mainly did that because of the context. This is the first battle movie after my set-up demo BCM77, so I wanted to show how things go, especially in regard to covie behaviour. With later battle movies I probably won't include so much preamble footage, unless it's amusing or instructive. Sometimes a preamble could be instructive for showing you how I'm arranging for covies to approach from certain directions.

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