Halo Wars 2: Operation: SPEARBREAKER

Operation: SPEARBREAKER is a downloadable expansion for Halo Wars 2. The expansion was released on July 16, 2017 for Xbox One and Windows 10 platforms. The expansion was released alongside the Serina leader DLC, with which it was bundled for $9.99, or a standlone purchase for $5.99. Operation: SPEARBREAKER was additionally included as part of the Halo Wars 2 season pass. The expansion is the first piece of campaign downloadable content in the Halo series, featuring two brand-new campaign missions following the ODST squad Sunray 1-1 as they continue the war for the Ark.

Characters and setting
Operation: SPEARBREAKER focuses around a UNSC operation of the same name, set one month after the events of Halo Wars 2. The expansion follows the actions of Sunray 1-1, a squad of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers assigned to lead an operation in an attempt to stop the Hunter known as "Colony" from activating a Despair-class fighter - a Forerunner ship that could be used to destroy the UNSC Spirit of Fire. Throughout the expansion, only two members of Sunray talk to the player; Major Vaughan and Warrant Officer Quinn.



Plot synopsis
One month following the destruction of Enduring Conviction and the launch of the Halo, the war for the Ark rages on. UNSC drones spot signs of Banished activity hidden by a cloak field, prompting Sunray 1-1 to investigate The squad drops in via drop pod, and meets up with friendly UNSC forces on-site. The group fight through several Aggressor Sentinels, before meeting a new kind of foe; the Controller Sentinel. Like the Enforcer, the Controller has several energy shields protecting its front, requiring the squad to attack from multiple directions to hit the sentinel from behind and destroy it. The group eventually come across a hologram of a Jiralhanae Warlord, who inadvertently informs the UNSC that his Huragok have established several cloaking towers around their work site, and orders the Banished to defend the sites from the Controller Sentinels until Colony's plan is complete.

The UNSC set up a Firebase and begin building an army. While fighting the Banished, Sunray come across an as-of-yet unknown unit, the Skitterer and later, a Goliath. The UNSC eventually destroy the Controller Sentinels besieging the Banished, in time to see a Retriever Sentinel emerge. The Retriever is eventually destroyed, allowing the UNSC troops to move on to their next objective. With only fifteen minutes until the Forerunner ship is repaired and able to destroy Spirit of Fire, Sunray begin taking the ship's charging columns offline via the use of HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark II (J) Colossus mechs. All towers are eventually taken offline and the ship is destroyed in an air strike before it can launch, ending the DLC.

Campaign
Operation: SPEARBREAKER includes two campaign missions.
 * 1) "Gatecrashers" - "Major Vaughan leads his Boomerang Company ODSTs to a Banished operation site."
 * 2) "Not on My Watch" - "Major Vaughan and his ODST team battle to stop the Banished from launching a Forerunner ship."

Multiplayer
Operation: SPEARBREAKER contains no multiplayer content. However, the expansion released on the same day as the Serina leader DLC, and as such the two were bundled together. The map for the campaign level Gatecrashers was later included in the multiplayer in a later update as the level Mirage.