I don't think I've played Tower Control in Museum d'Alfonsino for a while, so it took me a little while to find out how to reliably get to the other side of the museum. The central column isn't there! Luckily, two extra blocks have been added, one either side, allowing for access. I make good use of them.
Right away, I pressure a charger to retreat, which bodes well for my formidable bucket. If I remember that I have a Bubbler, and can activate it quicker than a Dynamo Roller can flick, I should be invincible.
Catching the Blaster unawares from my being almost as high as him was a lot of fun, failing to make the tiniest of jumps from the tower less so. But when I find that second route the opponents' side, I'm all over the place. I even remember to find time to ride the Tower.
As I always like to do, I manage to flank the charger and splat him completely by surprise a couple of times, and bagging that triple to reclaim the tower was superb. A fantastic, fun battle!
I get splatted a lot without many splats to show for it, but I am in possession of the Rainmaker quite a lot. Maybe that means I can't aim a massive, rushing tornado of inky doom, but whatever.
That E-litre 3K Scope on the other team is quite intimidating too. But, then, so are the Carbon Roller and Tempered Dynamo Roller. I'm not quite sure how we cope, to be honest. I suppose mostly by neither team moving the Rainmaker very far past the centre.
Still, my squidmates know what they are doing and are pretty good at what they do. Both teams hold their own, giving little more than inches at a time. It's a tight battle, but a mobile one that has all inklings battling fair and doing their best.
Considering how little progress we both make, the battle is a whole lot of fun. Neither team is going for splats, ignoring the objective, and their are earnest attempts to push the Rainmaker with every carry. Maybe not everyone wants to carry the Rainmaker, but I'm there and happy to do it, so that works out too.
The battle ends almost as it starts, as I grab the Rainmaker, but this time keep it safe for a few seconds. We may have only a slight lead, but it's enough.
The teams look pretty even at the beginning of this battle. Let's hope it turns out to be a good one. I try to be tactical to start with, using movement and positioning to my advantage, and it works well. Really well. I should do it more often.
And so I do. I am prompted by protecting the Rainmaker, who squids past me to go along a side route. I'll escort you! I make sure the Rainmaker has ink to squid in, any inklings have to come through me, and, when an orange inkling hides around a corner, I go in to take care of her.
Teamwork feels great when it comes together. I hope my squidmate feels the same. It's a shame she got caught in the Inkstrike, but it's not so much of a shame that I fail to pick up the Rainmaker in her place, not with the laser sight shining right on it.
Somehow I not only survive being cornered, but splat the Rainmaker, then evade a Kraken. If we could dunk the Rainmaker now and make me look like an elite player, that would be great. But the battle continues, and even that turns out to be okay, as I am supported on my way to getting a pretty good lead for our team.
I hope everything up to that point makes me look good, because my aim and manoeuvring start to let me down. At least there are Beakons available for me to get splatted more efficiently. But we still operate as a good team, stopping the Rainmaker's advance, and even throwing ourselves in to the path of danger as one.
The orange team make another push as the seconds tick down, and our lead looks to be under threat. No, not this late! But my squidmates have the situation under control. Woomy!
I love Moray Towers. Whether I'm facing chargers, playing a charger, or just running up and down either side of it, I think it's a great map, particularly with the extra blocks. I'm tempted to pull out the Splatterscope, but I think the Tri-slosher should work really well for sloshing ink down from above too.
It's one thing to rain ink down on to your own Moray Towers Splat Zone, but to do so on the opponents' is quite another. Although you can go directly for their Splat Zone, I prefer a more circuitous route, which is a little less monitored, even if it can throw you in to the path of falling inklings occasionally.
A benefit to the long route is that I can often splat chargers who aren't paying full attention too. Always a little pleasure. I can then work my way up the ramp and slosh to my little heart's content. I just need to watch my flank.
One inkling is splatted squidding up the wall, two more when I go exploring. I get splatted in the process, but that seems like a good deal, as our own Splat Zone is under pressure. My appearance shakes the charger, who has also crossed the gap.
I take care of our Splat Zone for a bit, but it's soon safe to move on. In doing so, I somehow am missed point blank by the charger and splat him again, even forgetting my Disruptor. Sorry about that. But it lets me move back up to ink their Splat Zone again from above.
A bit of a mis-step doesn't end in my doom, thankfully, and when trying to return to my position I see some inky threat from above. Let's not approach this head on, but see if I can remove that threat from behind again. I use a couple of different short-cuts up the Towers and remove that pressure.
Back to ink the Splat Zones from above, and my manoeuvrings are attracting attention. That's okay, I have a Bubbler, and it's charged! Sure, I get splatted as the Bubbler runs out, but I splat my assailants in the process. My only regret is not having the opportunity to have a little victory dance as the counter ticks down to a knockout victory. Woomy!
What a great start to this Splat Zones battle! I make it to the Splat Zones, ink a bunch of turf, and get some decent splats. I even catch the tail end of a Kraken, probably disappointing him a little. What would have made it perfect would be catching both the Inkzooka and the charger with my sloshing, but you can't have it all.
When I am back as an inkling, the battle continues on the front tentacle for us, as we keep the Splat Zones inked and I manage to evade another Kraken. But those inked walls should give me pause for thought. As an unseen Splat Bomb reduces me to yellow ink, a certain Carbon Roller is about to cause me some grief.
That first splat looked a bit unfair, but at least I got him too. I start covering over the vertical surfaces too, but not before wreaking a bit more havoc thanks to some good manoeuvring. But I fail to watch my sides and am splatted again. And again, when the fast flick of the Carbon Roller catches me.
Back in to my groove, I get my Disruptor and Bubbler working for me, bagging me some splats, before the Carbon Roller gets his revenge. I aim to get it back, but he is too quick to see my threat and drops down a level, where my aim lets me down.
We trade splats for a bit, as it looks like we're going to win. But the yellow team take control of the Splat Zones as the clock ticks down, pushing us in to extra time. And although I think we're in a good position, it seems that my team are too focussed on splats than recovering the Splat Zones.
And so it goes. I think all we needed was a bit more ink spread over the right area, but it's well played by the yellow team for making us lose focus.
A quick blast with the Hydra Splatling had my standing in one position on Museum d'Alfonsino, which was effective but not particularly interesting. Back to the Tri-slosher, looking for some action. I find it, too! Facing down the barrel of an Inkzooka is a little too much action, perhaps.
I've got some goggles on that improve my Sub-weapon throwing range, hoping to make more use of my Disruptor. I do in this battle, but promptly forget afterwards. It is useful, though, both in depleting the opponent's ink tank, and in slowing them down, so that they can't escape my short-range sloshing.
When I miss dropping down on the charger, but apply some sloshing pressure anyway, until the Killer Wail comes. I hear a super-jump at that point, and I think the charger has gone back to his base. I move on. Also towards his base, in fact, and catch him on the return. You can't escape the bucket.
The battle finishes shortly after that, a little by surprise. I almost have time to give a 'Nice!', as I have been splatted and can look at the counter, but I'm not quite quick enough. Still, nice!
A not-so-great attempt with the Hydra Splatling as my first battle in the evening convinces me to return to a more comfortable model for this short session. The Splatterscope it is! I think it will work on both Camp Triggerfish and this map, Walleye Warehouse.
The E-litre 3K Scope could be a complication, though. I get first ink, coming from a direction she doesn't suspect, before falling foul to a bucket. I like the bucket, and can't get mad at someone else using it well.
As for the battle over Tower Control, which is kinda the point of all this, we take a fairly decent early lead, but one that is demolished with some good teamwork by the purples, and my running low of ink. How embarrassing. At least it isn't only my aim that lets me down this time.
Now on the back foot, we have a fair distance to cover before we can even think about a victory, particularly as the purple team extend their lead. But we battle on and get the tower back, and I really feel the pressure of the E-litre 3K.
Super-jumping in to the sights of the E-litre is anxiety inducing, but she has more to worry about, it seems. At least for a moment. Her sights then fix on me quite firmly, and I have to take the slow way back a couple of times. But we regain the lead.
As the clock ticks down, we just need to defend. And we all seem nicely prepared, with even a Killer Wail covering the Tower as we ride it to victory. Woomy!
Camp Triggerfish isn't being kind to me today. But that's okay, because Walleye Warehouse has given me a couple of cracking battles. I don't even mind that the Dual Squelcher is running some Defence Up, ruining my partial charges. Looks like it works.
Our early lead looks good, even if we're pushed back a couple of times. Minor setbacks, really. So minor that I don't even realise my squidmates are pushing the Tower forwards when the Killer Wail strikes. I was checking the corridor for blue inkling flanking, and sensibly stayed out of the way as the Wail came. I look out and, well, where is everybody?
My second Splat Bomb Rush is rather more successful than the first, and I follow that with managing to get through the Dual Squelcher's shields. More impressively, despite being somewhat disorientated, I realise that I don't get splatted in that exchange very quickly indeed, and squid back to the Tower.
We make another push forwards. An aggressive one. The Tower looks like it's going all the way, but there is resistance. I move, and even though it looks a little late I manage to make a big leap for a little squid, clinging on to the Tower as it ascends, and get stuck in blue ink as my squidmates are splatted.
I release a defensive Splat Bomb almost as a reflex and, thanks to some happy positioning, not only stay unsplatted for the last few metres the Tower needs to travel to get to the goal, but get two extra splats as we get the knockout victory! Woomy!
Time for the Tri-slosher! I think I'll be aiming for inklings more than the Splat Zones, but I never really know what I'm doing until I get in to the battle. But I almost inevitably get splatted in the first encounter. It feels that way, anyway.
After the aborted mission in to opponent territory, I decide to ink the Splat Zones from above. That goes well. Not much else to do, but move around the side, right in to a bunch of yellow inklings, where not even my Disruptor can save me.
Heading back up the wall bags me a few splats, which is nice, particularly the one when I decide to pop my Bubbler. I don't think she expected that. Just as I don't expect an inkling to appear behind me. But I recognise that movement. They super-jumped there.
Sure enough, there are Beakons planted around that corner, giving the yellow inklings easy access to our Splat Zone. We can't have that. It becomes my mission to get rid of those Beakons, and keep them gone.
Whatever else happens, splatting one inkling landing at a Beakon, followed by another inkling at another Beakon a second later, gives me a warm, mission-accomplished feeling. Almost as warm as being in the centre of a Killer Wail.
If only that brush hadn't evaded my sloshed ink. My being splatted takes me away from the Splat Zones just as the clock ticks down, and I won't have enough time to make it back. This battle ain't heading to extra time.
I'm on a losing streak. It's time to find a new weapon! That way I can either break the streak, or justify it. A scan through the weapons shows me the Mini-splatling, which I've tried before, but trying it on the test ground makes me think its range isn't as suited to Splat Zones as maybe the Heavy Splatling. Or the Hydra Splatling. Let's give the latter a go.
I give the Hydra Splatling a quick go on the test ground, just to get a feel for it. That probably helps a bit, at least to know when it is charged. From there, straight in to Ranked battle, and Splat Zones on Camp Tiggerfish.
The Camp seems like a good place for the Hydra, with the open Splat Zones and gap that can easily be covered by the Splatling. I don't quite get the best feel of the range or inking time of the Hydra, although the charging time I think I get.
What I mostly fail to get is more ink in the Splat Zones. I am shooting all around them, trying to splat inklings, which admittedly would be a help, but there are times when I could be covering the Splat Zones. Thankfully, I realise this off-and-on, and send my ink that way, which I think makes a difference.
I also maintain some situational awareness, which keeps me unsplatted a few times. It's easy to avoid a Splat Bomb landing on you when you don't have ink to finish sloshing, and it's great to be able to squid away at any time. And sitting at the back with a heavy weapon that lets me see inklings trying to flank me is fun!
I have to say, I quite enjoy this outing with the Hydra Splatling. I'll have to take it out again.
