Boarding Action

4-16 players

Boarding Action is a multiplayer map in Halo: Combat Evolved.

Layout
There are two parallel human battleships, possibly UNSC Prowlers. In addition, there are 4 teleporters on both ships, two on the first level, and two on the fifth level, which are the only means of transportation between the two ships. This map is usually picked by hosts for its extremely exciting sniper battles. Other hosts may turn off sniping to force players to board the other ship. This usually results in a frenzy of explosions near each teleporter as each team frantically tries to stop the other team on their ship. The ships are in fact not that far apart - it is simple to throw a grenade to the other ship.

There are 5 symmetrical floors on each side, and other than being mirror copies of each other, they are exactly the same. Portals are found on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th floors, each leading into the exact same place on the other side. On the top right corner of each base (looking out), there is a small indent with a power-up.

In Halo PC, the fuel rod gun is on the top floor (level five) on the right side of the wall, behind the barrier. If you go more right still, you will find the sniper rifle on the same level. There is a convenient stone structure sticking out a little. This is a popular sniper spot. On the flag floor, there is the shotgun, plasma rifle, and assault rifle laid around the flag. This is now on level two. On Level three, you will find the rocket launcher, as well as a thin hole running across the wall. Rocket-snipers are sometimes here, but usually they get meleed in the back. On the first level on the extreme right, there will be either an Active Camo or an Overshield.

Combat
An interesting way to simulate ship-to-ship combat is to do a 4-Xbox system link, and have 16 players, eight to a team, loaded with all Rocket Launchers. Volleys of rockets across the two ships greatly resemble hot exchanges of cannon fire between two eighteenth-century ships-of-the-line. It is not at all uncommon in any game type to find yourself standing directly above or below an enemy as the ships have several floors, with each floor number marked on the wall. Often times one player will come through a teleporter right in to another player without much warning. Should you fall into the space between the two ships, obviously you will die, but after falling a certain distance, you hit an invisible floor, for lack of a better term. The map is very popular for rocket battles.

Another popular game type on Boarding Action is all snipers, in either Team Slayer or CTF, because of how many parts of the map are remote to each other, the fact that you can see almost all of the map from any area, and that most weapons can't reach to most parts of the map.

Tactics
This map is very good for Capture the Flag, Assault, and Team Slayer. Free-for-All gametypes work too, especially Oddball matches with NavPoints turned off. Putting all Custom Game Types aside, if somebody can grab a Sniper Rifle early enough, he/she can find the small gunslot on the fourth floor and jump off into a small block of gray, which makes a good sniping spot, sol long as you move back into the small enclosure after each shot. Players with Rocket Launchers should slowly prowl the enemy's ship, while players armed with Shotguns should hide in usually-visited corners. Lastly, infantrymen, specifically armed with Assault Rifles and Pistols should guard the Sniper, with a couple Pistol wielders near, but not next to, the Shotgunners. One man assualts are not advisable, even with strong weapons, as a horde of enemies will quickly wipe you out. Sniping people who are in pursuit of the ally with the flag is very helpful.

Theories

 * Bungie has, in the past, stated that the multiplayer levels in Halo: Combat Evolved are canon to the story. This means that Boarding Action could come from Halo Canon.
 * It's natural for one to assume that these two smaller ships are UNSC Prowlers, ONI Stealth ships.
 * Due to the fact that teleporters only existed in the Human world at training facilities (such as Chiron TL-34), it is possible Boarding Action is a training ground for SPARTANS for Zero-G situations, except gravity was applied to the map for the multiplayer due to the effect it could have on players and also Bungie did not want to create programming for something as complicated as Zero-G.
 * Another possible explanation is that the teleporters are only a gameplay concern; or that the map is set some time after the Human-Covenant War, when teleporters have been more widely implemented.
 * You can see the moon Basis from the red ship, so it could be in the area of Installation 04. However, Installation 04 cannot be seen from the map. This suggests this map is set after the destruction of Installation 04.