**Spartan Assault — Operation A: Umbra**
Covers the five solo missions, not the separate console co-op mode.
Umbra moves between holding a position, taking out artillery, protecting a convoy and driving a Wraith. The main thing is not to treat every objective as a reason to stand there shooting until nothing moves. Sometimes you need to clear a route. Sometimes leaving that route is exactly what gets your escort killed.
**A-1: Assault on CF-32**
You begin with Davis and Marines on the platform above the facility. Deal with the first Grunts from the nearby drop pod, then watch both approaches. The fighting below is background to your immediate objective; do not let it pull your attention away from the enemies actually reaching the platform.
The mission changes from surviving the invasion to clearing the remaining opposition, then finishing the Elite squadron. That last objective matters: surviving the opening Grunts is not the end. The later Elites come from the left approach, including a drop-pod arrival.
Keep enough room to move sideways instead of backing into an edge. When an Elite joins a group of Grunts, clear the weaker enemies that are cutting off your movement, then concentrate fire on the shielded target. Do not divide your attention so evenly that every enemy stays alive shooting at you.
For a challenge-cleanup replay, check which weapon kills you still need before starting. A comfortable completion with the wrong gun does not help that particular counter.
**A-2: The Mirror Mantle Counter-Assault**
Palmer's objective is to destroy three fuel rod turrets along the ridge. These are the artillery targets, not merely the smaller Shade turrets encountered on the way.
Deal with the Grunt running toward the first Shade before it settles into the gun. Continue through the ridge to the first artillery position, clear its guards and destroy the target. Move on to the second position rather than staying behind shooting at scenery or distant background vehicles.
After the second artillery target, the route includes another occupied Shade and a larger group of Elites and Grunts. Clear enough room to approach the third target safely. Its direct entrance is blocked: go around the small ridge to reach the secluded cliff instead of repeatedly pushing against that obstruction.
Destroying the third turret changes the objective to extraction. Retrace the ridge toward the waiting Hornet. The objective marker is now bringing you back out; that is intended, not a missed fourth artillery target.
**A-3: Reinforcement of the Perch**
This is the Escort Service mission. **Every Wolverine must survive.** Finishing with a surviving vehicle is not the same requirement.
Move ahead far enough to remove Shade turrets before their gunners can work on the convoy, but not so far that you cannot get back. The dangerous mistake is assuming everything behind you is permanently clear. Covenant reinforcements attack the Wolverines from the rear during the route.
Use the drivers' warnings as a reason to look back immediately. If a vehicle is taking fire, stop chasing a distant enemy and deal with the threat beside the convoy. Keep out of the Wolverines' path yourself; getting run over does not help the escort.
At the defensive position, do not relax simply because the vehicles have stopped moving. There is a final enemy deployment to clear. Keep protecting the convoy until the mission actually completes.
I would do the escort achievement separately from awkward turret or weapon challenges. Leaving a dangerous gun standing so you can use it for a challenge later is a poor trade when your current objective is keeping every vehicle intact.
**A-4: Live to Fight**
Get into the available Wraith. The initial blockage is another Wraith's wreckage: destroy it to open the route, then continue into the valley.
Your main targets are the anti-air Wraiths. The first is supported by infantry; after destroying it, be ready for another hostile Wraith and additional Grunts. Do not interpret the target's destruction as an all-clear.
Farther along, the second anti-air Wraith has more infantry and a Shade nearby. There is also an unmanned Wraith in this part of the valley. That is worth noticing before your current vehicle is about to explode, rather than discovering it while stranded under fire.
Keep moving between shots when there is room. Give your own explosive fire space to land without firing straight into an obstacle beside you. Once the second anti-air target is down, deal with the counterattack instead of stopping in the middle of the route to inspect your score.
**A-5: The Last Stand**
This is a timed holdout for the Hornet, not another artillery hunt. The extraction countdown begins at three minutes and thirty seconds. The base has bunkers, explosive barrels and mounted guns, but the attacks do not stay confined to one approach.
Early Grunts come from the west; pressure then develops from the south and east. Use the mounted guns when they cover the immediate threat, but get off one before it leaves you stuck facing the wrong fight.
Elites join the larger waves as the timer runs down. A Wraith attacks from the south around the final minute, with another arriving close to extraction. Keep watching the remaining time and the extraction objective rather than trying to stretch this into an endless kill farm.
For a first clear, the priority is Palmer surviving to leave. Come back for a specific challenge once you know where the late pressure appears. Completing all five missions finishes Umbra and earns Overrun.
**Spartan Assault — Operation A: Umbra**
· Games / Halo: Spartan Assault