The covies get a nasty cyborg-shaped surprise in this 'platform ambush', another fun-filled way of tackling the twin bridges megabattle…

(4:33) Level 5 ('Assault on the Control Room') on Heroic. This shows a twin bridges megabattle against 52 covies using the platform ambush plan. I use a rocket launcher and AR and have the support of a 16-man squad. I'm using the same save as in BCM17.

Released June 13th 2010, gameplay recorded June 11th 2010.

00:02 First I drop gently down onto the underpass roof for a quick change of weaponry. So many lovely choices… but this time I'll go for a rocket launcher to give the movie some serious bang, and also an AR for close-range drilling, something I'm rather fond of.

00:16 Normally I'd just fly straight to my defence spot, but for this movie I wanted to do something a bit different for fun. I fire a Banshee bolt to give an Elite a nasty shock. I'm not trying to kill him but the blast does kill a nearby Grunt. I veer sharp right to try and avoid fire, then curve left and double back around a tree. Spotting a lone Elite, I fire another bolt. This time I am going for a kill, and the blast sends him flying rather nicely. That still leaves fifteen Elites for later though! Next I climb and dive, peppering the enemy a little. What can I say - I like making them mad. Before I get too low I level off and head away from the barrage, flying over the inner platform up which the enemy will soon be swarming.

01:02 As in BCM17 which used the same save, I eject Johnson from the chain-gun (he doesn't fly so far this time) and release the fifteen penned Marines. A brief pause to let you see them running out, and them I'm off to my defence spot behind the left 'pipe block', from which the greenish metal pipes emerge. When you stand in this general area - or somewhat to the right in line with the inner platform - it causes enemies to head up the platform, feeding into your ambush. Very nice!

01:22 Nearing the block, it sounds like an Elite has spotted the Marines. A red appears and I open up with the AR. He turns to face me and I briefly back off to use the corner of the block as cover while I work on him. He advances a little, but before he can do me damage a blue emerges and takes a swing at me with his needler. After a moment of drilling, I tag and dodge - a move you can make great use of here. Moving away from the forthcoming bang, I'm about to continue drilling the red, but then I realize that we've now got a fearsome mass of Elites forming the platform exit, so I switch to the launcher instead, and BLAM! - the blast takes out three at once, almost at the same time as the blue goes bang from the grenade. A red follows up and I let him have the other tube. Six Elites down so far; only ten more to go!

01:39 I reload the launcher just in time for an arriving blue who never even knew what hit him. Seeing another red dot on my tracker, I throw a plasma grenade near the exit, but a Grunt runs past it and gets taken down by the Marines. At least my blast sends him flying afterwards. Next up, a red Elite. I switch back to the AR - I don't want rockets to make things too easy - and start drilling, but he does a sideways movement and clumsily goes over the edge, down into the trough. That's unusual. From this point I know he's going to emerge from the trough shortly, and I want to be ready to blast him. I reload the launcher, throw a plasma grenade to give any arriving enemies something to think about, then turn to get ready for the red, using the tracker dot as my guide. I fire the moment I see him, and he never gets a chance to attack the Marines.

02:06 It's back to the AR for a spot of drilling - just minor enemies - and a Marine sends in a frag. Hear that unseen Jackal scream? Nice one buddy! Then the next Elite arrives - another red. A rocket sends him skimming forward and I close in with the AR to finish him off with drilling and a whack, but he's comically taken down by a plasma ball just as I try to give him a faceful of rifle butt. Ah well, I'm not complaining. Another plasma ball sails past and hits a Marine. I send in a frag and a beaky freak comes flying out.

02:26 I briefly move right for a peek down the platform, and there's a blue on the way. A frag sends his solitary grunty support flying and also blasts him forward into my AR sights, somewhat like the last red. This time I don't get any Jackal assistance, and I take him down with the AR.

02:32 With a brief lull in the battle, there's time to reload the launcher. With my eye on the next red dot, I throw a plasma grenade and a Grunt waltzes straight into it. "Not again!". Yes grunty, again. A blue comes galloping along and I throw another plasma, going for a tag. I miss but it causes him to jump into the trough. I throw a frag to hopefully finish him off - then another for luck, but the first one does the trick. Meanwhile, it sounds like my plasma grenade ended up blasting an approaching Grunt, who comes sailing past.

02:57 Another brief lull, and I've got five rockets left. I get ready to fire one, and meanwhile a Marine yells "Catch this!". But then I hear another Marine say "Dammit!" and then I hear a frag bouncing way too close for comfort! I back off fast and escape damage. You do have to be a bit careful when out front like this, though a bigger danger than wayward frags is the possibility of getting caught in a chain reaction from all the plasma grenades that can be littering the ground.

03:06 I briefly switch back to the AR for a bit of Grunt drilling, but then I see an Elite emerging with a Jackal, so I send in a rocket. The Jackal takes a direct hit and goes flying, but the Elite is left alive. He's quickly finished off though. Meanwhile a plasma grenade sails my way (it was nice of the Grunt to shout out a warning) and I was perhaps lucky that it didn't catch on one one my boots; it looks awfully close!

03:15 Moving around to the right, I pepper a Grunt and also a Marine. Sorry fella, my bad! A rocket takes out a few minor enemies then I move back to the end of the pipe block where I dish out another two rockets. Briefly backing off, I throw a plasma grenade which makes a Jackal dive, then he gets blasted by it. While that was happening I really should've taken the opportunity to load my last rocket just in case I need it, but in fact I just stick with the AR.

03:34 A cry of pain indicates an approaching Elite meeting up with Marine fire. I move to the corner of the pipe block and see a blue, and pepper him with the AR (also a Jackal). Just as he's going down, two more Elites come speeding through and I'm somewhat caught out while reloading. Uh-oh! I close on them and see the blue take a friendly plasma ball, so I focus on finishing him off quick. Moving my attention to the red, I briefly move close enough to trigger him into a swipe, then I back off and put him down with more AR fire. I was hoping this would send all the minor enemies into a panic, but a yellow-shielded Jackal isn't giving up so easily and I get caught with a plasma ball before I smack him down. Things get worse as I realize that a blue Elite has just arrived; maybe that's why the Jackal didn't go into a panic. He comes for me and I back off while drilling him, then I dodge his swipe and give him a vicious blow to finish him off. Phew! Close call.

04:04 Reloaded and with shield restored, there's just a final panicking Grunt to put out of his misery. It's a pity I didn't think to use my final rocket on him to make for a nice ending. Actually I'm not sure I remembered I still had it, and maybe my head was still spinning a bit from that last hectic phase - could've used a rocket there! As it is, I just pepper him then lazily throw a plasma grenade which actually goes through his legs. A Marine finishes him off. Battle over, and no Marine casualties.

Closing remarks This is my joint favourite defence plan, along with the left side defence shown in BCM17. One thing I should point out is that with the enemies so nicely funnelled into the 'ambush', I didn't really need a rocket launcher to help out. Just an AR and grenades would do, and would make things a lot more challenging. For the sake of pyrotechnic movie footage though, it's hard to resist the rocket laucher. I could've made more efficient use of it, e.g. reserving it for use on Elites (and more specifically, multiple Elites), but my main goal was just to give you some entertaining action to watch, so I wasn't trying to be as efficient as possible. Plus, I enjoy AR drilling so I tried to include lots of that. I maximized the 'ambush' aspect by standing close to the block, attacking enemies from the side, but it's also a heck of a lot of fun to stand back among a large squad of Marines; so make sure to try that too if you ever set things up.

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