Stacker handles the chain-gunning as I make a stand from on top of a big rock and other places, past the lifeboat…

(5:56) Level 2 ('Halo') on Heroic. This shows three plays of a rockslide megabattle save featuring 34 covies, using the lifeboat area defence plan with Stacker on the chain-gun. I defend deep each time, including from up on the lifeboat rock with a sniper rifle.

Released October 3rd 2013, gameplay recorded September 30th - October 2nd 2013.

00:02 (Play 1: Sniper rifle up high) On this first play I take something of a zigzag route to my defence location. Initially swerving right, I splat a Grunt and make a Jackal dive, then go left and get a Jackal who doesn't quite dive fast enough. Stacker helps out with some chain-gunning and also makes the handy observation "Lots of 'em here sir!" Yeah thanks for that Stacker.

00:16 I slide the hog to a stop and get Johnson out, then jump up onto the lifeboat rock. There are various types you can get (see my article), and here I've got the jump-spot rock. A jump onto the right spot gets me on top quite easily and I quickly get busy with sniping and grenades. My first shot gets two Grunts, which was luck really; I was just going for the one in front. I also get a bit lucky tagging an injured Elite on the ankle, though it obviously helps that I got the grenade to the right general area. There's also a frag I throw, which usefully slows up the advance of another Elite, making him dive - then I snipe him. I continue to focus on the central area for a while (dodging a few plasma balls too), and when Stacker brings down a Jackal he yells "I'd have been your daddy but the dog beat me over the fence!"

00:51 I hear a Grunt to the right and pan around to take care of him. Gotta watch out for covies coming through that gap, or Stacker and Johnson could soon be toast! Johnson takes a bit of plasma fire from a blue Elite just after that, and I quickly use my rifle. Meanwhile I've also thrown a frag at some Grunts following the Elite, and it works nicely. I snipe a Jackal and a Grunt after then, then see a Jackal trying to clear off with blue shield overhead, so he gets a round in the back, heh heh.

01:05 After a quick reload I lob another frag then take aim with the rifle, getting another panicking Jackal in the back. The frag definitely takes out a Jackal but I'm not sure about the Grunt I was also going for. He may've got clear, into the rockslide. I don't see it, because I briefly pan around to the plateau base gap to check the threat there. It's a yellow-shielded Jackal, but I elect to let Stacker handle it. Instead I pan back and snipe a Grunt, though it takes two rounds to put him down.

01:16 Not much work left to do now. I spot another Grunt to snipe, and meanwhile Stacker and Johnson put down a Grunt at the gap. When I snipe the distant dropship 4 Elite, it panics the remaining Jackal, and I track him briefly before taking my shot.

01:35 (Play 2: Sniper rifle at ground level) This time I take a sharp right to thread the hog through the narrow gap between the tree and rock. Not the easiest route, but quite nice as a driving challenge, and if you can manage to avoid any plasma balls (which would depend on quite where the Jackals are), it can be quite good for minimizing the amount of fire you take - as seen here.

01:46 I slide the hog to a stop near the small rock, get Johnson mobile, and lob two plasmas in the general direction of some galloping Elites. The first one scores a direct hit on a red, and I enjoy the sight for a moment. His death panics some minor enemies and I snipe a few, plus another red. Nice start! As for the second plasma, there seems to be neither sight nor sound of that detonating. All I can think is that it got blown away by the first blast, just as it was about to enter my zoomed view.

02:04 Reloaded, I finish a blue Elite which Stacker was working on, then I get a red near the central rock. Just as I get him, a Grunt in the background takes a friendly plasma ball in the back, hee hee! But I'm soon focusing on matters closer at hand. A blue Elite is closing in with a Jackal behind - maybe more. I throw a frag intended for the vicinity of the Jackal, and snipe the Elite. When the frag goes off, it sets off the blue's dropped grenades, and the blast kills a red Elite.

02:17 A Jackal is running off and escapes my view, so I snipe a panicking Grunt instead, but then I switch to the plateau base gap where there's a grunty threat developing. I snipe one Grunt, and another gets blasted by my frag. Around this time however, Johnson takes two plasma balls from different Jackals, which isn't good news. He's not armoured, so he's pretty weak. After some more sniping plus an effective plasma grenade towards the gap, I get to feeling I'm top of things, but then a Grunt toddles forth and fires three needles towards Johnson. I try to jump in the way of them, but unfortunately at least one gets through and kills him. Darn!

02:49 A frag sees off the Jackal which has been lurking near the lifeboat rock, and then I take a shot at the dropship 4 Elite. My aim at his head is fractionally off and it doesn't kill him, but then I hear a Grunt needling Stacker. I don't want to lose him as well as Johnson, so I break off to deal with the threat, before finishing the Elite. That just leaves a few Jackals, easily sniped.

03:22 (Play 3: Pistol & covie weapons) My drive begins with a bit of swerving about in the open, during which an Elite dives twice and I circuit a Grunt. But the highlight comes as we speed off. A plasma ball chases us - including curving left - and just manages to catch up with Stacker. That's one of the nicest examples of a chaser shot I've seen. After that happened, I was keen to make sure the rest of my play went well, because I really fancied having that chaser shot in the movie.

03:40 We come to a stop near the plateau base gap. I could've given Stacker a better view of approaching enemies by placing him more towards the lifeboat, but I'm restricting his scope so I have to do more of the killing myself. My plan here is to use the pistol plus covie weapons. It makes for more of a challenge than just using the sniper rifle. I start with some pistol fire on an Elite, causing him to retreat to the rock. I send a grenade to the left, then one to the right, but I think he escapes both blasts.

03:52 Other Elites are closing fast. My frag blasts a blue Elite forward to get finished off, and I take the opportunity to get an early plasma rifle. It helps me keep a red Elite back, who then gets taken out by my plasma grenade blast along with a blue. When I step out from cover though, I get unexpectedly hit by a plasma ball fired from longish distance by a blue-shielded Jackal, leaving me in a fragile state.

04:09 Further works sees a red Elite go down from plasma fire, and I'm thinking I can maybe get recharged now, but there's a Jackal at the plateau base gap. I frag him quick and shoot a Grunt beyond. Ok, now maybe I can get recharged?

04:22 Keeping in close to the big rock, I throw a plasma grenade to stall any advancing enemies, but I fail to notice an Elite closing on the left; the ground is dark there and he somewhat blends in with it. His plasma fire catches me, doing further damage to my health. A few moments later, things get more desperate when a red Elite gets close. Despite his threat, I prioritize a Grunt who's about to throw a plasma. He fumbles it which usefully makes the Elite dive, but meanwhile I've heard Grunts at the gap and I kill two quick, partly for self-preservation and partly to try and keep the hog from getting grenaded. I'm in a real bad state now though, and feel obliged to simply run to the lifeboat for cover. I'm ready to blast the Elite, who's likewise close to death, but luckily Stacker finishes him as I get there.

04:45 With the Elite dead, I'm able to just run straight around the lifeboat, using a medkit as I go. As you might notice, I also switch off my flashlight. I think I was thinking "I'll switch my flashlight on because it's dark here", but in all the excitement I'd forgotten that I already had it on (mainly for the sake of the movie, as in BCM85). Anyway, doesn't matter. I emerge from cover and kill a few Grunts, then get recharged.

04:54 I see a needler and decide to have some mopping-up fun with it. A nearby Grunt is the first to get heavily needled, but I throw a frag too, and it send him and four colleagues flying. A couple of Jackals are next to get the needle and frag treatment, and after a bit more killing, things go quiet.

05:27 I hear one last Grunt though. When I meet up with him, his final words are "There ya are" before taking a pistol round. The sniper rifle is nearby and I use it to kill the distant dropship 4 Elite.

Closing remarks After BCM85 I wanted to follow up by showing some deep defences, so here we are. This time though, I wanted to be entering with a full sniper rifle for my planned defence work, and to make for variety I decided also to get Stacker on the chain-gun. I simply modified the save used in BCM85 as follows (and thus, I'm fighting the exact same 34 covies). I picked up Johnson and the Marine, drove out to the waterfall area and got equipped with a partly stocked sniper rifle I'd left there. Then I did some crew switching, getting an armoured Stacker from the hillside survivor area, plus I topped up the rifle there; then saved a new checkpoint heading for the rockslide area.

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