7 on 7: Not for a lack of trying

Last night, I ran into a few fine folk from HBO. I hadn’t yet gotten the Vidmaster Challenge: 7 on 7 achievement, but the group merrily offered to assist by getting 7 wins in Squad Battle. This is our story.

Team HBO (meaning a bunch of random HBO guys in a party, not an actual set group of people):
GreySpark
petetheduck
Schedonnardus
SPU7N1K
UnrealCh13f (joined after game 2)
Znite

Game 1: Big Team Slayer on Construct (Team HBO as RED)

The game started 6-1 with Team HBO wiping up on the lower level. From there, we maintained a comfortable lead on our way to victory. My favorite moments were delivering a missle pod rocket dead-on to a blue guy and annoying a blue standing too close to the bottom edge of the gold lift.

Team HBO wins 100 to 72.

Game 2: Multi Flag CTF on Valhalla (Team HBO as BLUE)

Red team got our flag early, which resulted in a frantic battle in the middle of the map to prevent the capture, countered by SPU7N1K grabbing the enemy flag. They managed to reset their flag before making off with ours, but Schendonnardus was quick to grab it once it had returned.

After losing a warthog, banshee, and plenty of lives in escort of the flag, Schendonnardus ran the final stretch to score, bringing Team HBO to a tie at 1-1, and setting us up to take the game.

Near the start of the game, I tried to help our assaulting warthog by firing some missle pod rockets at an enemy firing atop the center hill. It..wasn’t quite as helpful as I had hoped.

(sorry if the quality is poor. The explosions atop the center hill are my missles, which have a marked effect on the Warthog’s advance)

Team HBO wins 3-1

Game 3: Big Team Slayer on Sandtrap (Team HBO as BLUE)

If there is one thing Team HBO can do, it is get in a bunch of vehicles and drive around like crazy. This game had our name all over it.

I think the above image is a nice visual analogy to how the game went.

Team HBO wins 100-56

Game 4: Big Team Slayer on High Ground (Team HBO as BLUE)

This was our first meeting with MrManBird, who would apparently come back to haunt us later. The game was frantic, thanks mostly to red team’s tendency to continually push through the bunker entrance to the base, making for some close-quarter fighting.

Is he man? Is he bird? These are questions I must ask myself

Team HBO wins 100-85

Game 5: Big Team Slayer on Sandtrap (Team HBO as RED)

Having just recently rocked Sandtrap, we immediately set to grabbing every vehicle under the sun and running around like crazy.

Apparently, in a move that must have been orchestrated by none other than MrManBird himself, the blue team attempted almost the opposite strategy. With effective use of the spartan laser and sniper rifle, they kept us down, bringing quick pain to our warthogs.

Yes, that is our entire team in warthogs

RIP Team HBO

Team HBO fails, 73-100

Game 6: Big Team Slayer on Sandtrap Heavy (Team HBO as BLUE)

We had a quick opportunity to avenge ourselves, however. And this time, with Scorpions. Mwhaha!

The first few minutes of the game were spent defending our Scorpion/Wraith duo, as they brought the pain. Then it was time for a Scorpion showdown.

They might have made it just fine without me, but I used my chopper as a human shield, taking an enemy Scorpion round in order tip the battle heavily in our favor.

Mwhaha!

This guy actually jumped directly in front of my gauss round as I was firing on the enemy banshee. Good thing too, because he had just picked up the rockets. I didn’t even see him until he was dead.

Later Schedonnardus launched himself into one of Znite’s scorpion rounds.. Tsk. Apparently jumping in front of enemy/friendly fire was the theme of this game.

Later the red team moved in with two scorpions, but our lead had already been established.

Team HBO wins 100-92

Game 7: Big Team Slayer on Avalanche (Team HBO as BLUE)

Asides from general mayhem, I liked when Znite tried to use GreySpark as a human bomb by throwing a plasma grenade on his head as he rounded the corner to confront an enemy. Although, for some reason, the grenade never went off. It must have been on a lag timer..

Of course, the best moment of the game (for those that witnessed it), occured when I decided I would rather be Schedonnardus’s gunner instead of drive a mongoose.

Team HBO wins 86-69

Game 8: Big Team Slayer on High Ground (Team HBO as RED)

I’m not sure if the other team intentionally threw the game, but it was a slaughter. Asides from general mayhem, I had an amusing landing in a ghost.

Team HBO wins 100-40

In the end, we won 7 out of 8 games, getting the 7 EXP I needed. The achievement didn’t unlock, perhaps due to it being past midnight EST (my time zone), or perhaps because we didn’t play another game (we did enter searching, but backed out). I don’t mind, really. I had a great time.. and I think we’ll be doing it all over again in a month