Battle of the Brick: Built for Combat

Battle of the Brick: Built for Combat is a 2010 sci-fi action brickfilm by Alex Kobbs. It is based on Halo, and follows a battle between the Blue and Red teams on Zanzibar. It was in production for six years. It is one of the brickfilms with the highest number of views on YouTube, with over 85 million on the GameTrailers channel upload as of 2023.

Plot
The film opens with a shot of waves washing up on Zanzibar's beaches. The camera cuts to a few more shots of the beach, then panning sideways over a view of a small alcove, a shot through a arched doorway showing a few houses, one which has a turret on it's balcony, and a final shot of the Zanzibar turbine spinning. The camera then returns to the previous opening shot of waves hitting the beach, now with a Blue walking through it. The Blue who is the leader then stops and turns around, beckoning the rest of their team to follow along. The rest of the team checks their weapons before beginning their attack by running up one of the cliffs in front of the turbine. A Blue sniper sets up in one of the blown-out windows, while the rest of the team backs up against the nearby walls. The leader than asks the sniper if there's any targets ahead, where the sniper then says no.

The leader then gives the go-ahead to continue the attack, and the team run enter a nearby hallway. Two Blues split from the rest of the group and briefly stop near a window, while the rest of the Spartans run through a few battlements. The previous two Blues who split jump out of the window and into the courtyard, before taking cover behind a rock. The larger group of Blues run past a rock face and group up by a house, with the team leader peeking out from a part of the turbine's base and notices a turret. The leader than radios the previous two Blues who split as they are running to another piece of cover. The two Blues acknowledge to the leader that they are in position, while the leader then radios another team of Blues positioned near another part of the turbine base.

All teams then continue their assault on the house with the turret and take their positions, with the two who split positioned by the back, the main group by a side entrance, and the leader by the front door. The leader then gives the order to breach the buildings, and all teams converge in the middle. When all members of the team are present, the leader pulls out a flag and plants it in the middle of the room, with cheers from the rest of their team. The leader than radios the sniper, still positioned at the window, if anything new happened. The sniper radios back that nothing has happened yet, and the leader orders the sniper to stay put for now. The sniper then suddenly has a pistol held up against their head, and subsequently gets shot. The leader overhears this on the radio and orders one of the Blues to come with them. The two Blues go upstairs and onto the balcony, where the leader then asks if the other Blue sees anything. The other Blue tells the leader to look in the direction of the cliff face in front of the turbine, where a Red is standing ominously in the window. The Red then holds up the decapitated, bloody, and still helmeted head of the sniper. The leader tries to look away, and the Red shakes the helmet, making the bloody head of the sniper fall out onto the grass below before also throwing the helmet down.

The leader then looks back up at the Red, however the Red is quickly shot down by another Blue with a sniper rifle. The Red dies and tumbles down the stairs leading up to the window, which attracts the attention of two other Reds. The Reds become enraged and start yelling at the Blues, and the Blue leader then orders their team to charge. Both teams run out into the middle and start fighting each other near the windmill. Two Reds die immediately and the rest take cover, while one Red goes around and takes out one of the Blue Spartans. Now distracted, the remaining Blue Spartans start shooting at the lone Red and the rest of the Reds advance. Another Red appears around a corner, attempting to take out the remaining Blues, but suffers a weapon malfunction and is quickly gunned down and turned into a pile of blood by a Blue using a balcony turret. The Red that had managed to get behind the Blues in the first place notices the turret and fires at it, however the Blue manages to hit a few fusion coils, which subsequently explode and send the gibbed remains of the Red into the earlier blown-out window, where another Red who was standing there informs the rest of the Red team that they are losing. A Red jumps in and rides one of the blades of the turbine and onto a platform, where they destroy a lock that lowers a bridge. A Blue suddenly runs across and tries to fight the Red, however is quickly shot and falls of the platform. A few more Reds run past the body to attack a Blue behind a rock. The Blue primes a grenade and throws it, but is still shot in the process. The attacking Red succumbs to the grenade and gibs after the explosion.

The previous Red who killed the Blue that fell off now jumps into the area below the turbine and finds the energy sword. The Blue leader informs two remaining Blues that they are being pushed back and to take cover, while another Blue fends off against several Reds outside. A surviving Red runs, and the Blue gives chase through a alleyway, but gets pinned down by several Reds at the end. The Blue then uses a Noob Combo to take out a Red, before killing the rest with melee attacks. Back outside, the Blues advance on the surviving Reds, rapidly overwhelming them and killing them all, but a single Red survives and tries to run, only to be shot down by a Blue sniper. The Blues then celebrate with a teabag party on the dead Red.

A Red on a Ghost spots and runs the teabagger down and rams them against a wall several times. The Ghost then kills the rest of the Blues nearby before going to the other side of the turbine. Back inside the house, a Blue informs the leader that there's a problem, while outside a Blue attempts to shoot down the Ghost with a rocket launcher. They fail to hit the Ghost, and the previous Red with the sword appears. The Blue fires a rocket fruitlessly, which hits the turbine, and gets struck down with the sword. The resulting damage to the turbine makes it's generator catch on fire and completely stop the turbine from spinning, making the lights inside the house flicker.

Back on the side with the turrets, a few Reds attack, and one of them manages to stick a Blue with a plasma grenade. The Blue then accidentally kills themselves and another teammate after attempting to get the grenade off their helmet. The Reds then attack the house, who is only defended by the Blue leader and another Blue. The leader runs out of ammo as they are fighting, and while beating down a Red looses sight of the Blue flag. The Reds steal the flag and throw a grenade, showering the leader with rubble, but the leader survives and has an idea about what to do. The Blues pursue the Reds, but most are gunned down by a Red sniper. The surviving Blue radios for backup, and a Warthog crashes through a garage on the side of the house, running down the Red with the flag and killing the sniper.

The Ghost from before appears and starts fighting the Warthog, while the Blues go out to retrieve their flag with heavy resistance. The surviving Blue gets stuck with a plasma grenade again and dies, with their killer taking the Blue flag. The Warthog, still fighting the Ghost manages to throw the Ghost off their tail and also kill the Red with the flag. Suddenly, the Red's Scorpion appears and hits the Warthog, making it crash and killing all the occupants. Back near the houses, a Blue distracts the Ghost while their partner throws a spike grenade onto the Ghost, sending it into a corner. The Blue then throws a grenade into the wreckage to ensure the driver is dead.

Back on the beach with the Scorpion, a few Reds emerge from behind it and attempt to steal the flag, however are foiled by a Blue with a Spartan Laser. The Reds all train their weapons on the Blue, who then signals to their teammates to emerge. The Red then beckons their temamtes to come out, and both sides move towards the middle for a further face-off. The Red then attempts to distract the Blues by saying Master Chief was in the air somewhere, before pulling out and firing a rocket launcher at the Blue with the Spartan Laser, who dodges the rocket. The rocket hits the turbine, shattering one of it's blades and sending it flying through the air. Both teams back up some distance, and the Red who shot the rocket gets killed by the blade. The blade then falls down, and the Scoprion kills the Blue with the Spartan Laser, signalling the fight will continue once more. A Blue disables the Scorpion with a grenade launcher, and both teams start fighting again. A Red kills and sends a few Blues flying, while a Blue burns a Red. A Red takes out some more Blues with a Brute Shot, while a Blue sticks a Red with a Spike Grenade. A Red sniper comes out and takes out several Blues, but gets killed with a grenade launcher. The Scorpion recovers, and alongside the rest of the Reds, finish off several more Blues.

The Blue leader, who was knocked out, regains conciousness and witnesses the rest of the battle in slow motion, but decides to pick up two Magnums and make their last stand. They manage to kill a few Reds and the gunner of the Scoprion before dumping a grenade in the drivers compartment. The grenade explodes, and the tank has several smaller explosions before a much larger one, killing off all the remaining Reds and Blues except one Red and the Blue leader. The Blue leader tries to work their radio, but is apprehended by a surviving Red using a baseball bat, revealed to be the possible Red leader. The remaining Red then captures the flag, winning the game for their team, but at quite the cost. The Red then pulls out a Magnum and turns the gun on themselves. The film ends.

Crew

 * Alex Kobbs - Director, Animator, Special effects, Sound editor
 * Dan Prostak - Special effects
 * Nick Novotny - Color correction
 * Liam Morgan, Michael Freund, Keith Busby, Linda Laska, Bryan Delz - Brick donators
 * BrickArms - Weapon donators
 * Armita (Tex), Cryptic Inc. - Help with sound effect recording and locating
 * Brian Doherty, Chris Freund, halo.bungie.org, Joe Marine, Joe Tornatore, Jon Stephen Krasner, Linda Laska, Michael Freund, Michael "Zak" Lee, Mike Buaf, Mom and Dad, Paul Concemi, Thomas Kobbs, Urban Reflex, Will Chapman - Special thanks

Production
From 2005 to 2007, Alex Kobbs built a large LEGO recreation of the Halo 2 multiplayer map Zanzibar, which in and of itself received some attention from websites such as halo.bungie.org, Kotaku, and Engadget, and was showcased on the Halo 3: Legendary Edition bonus disc. Kobbs had planned that when he finished the set, he would create a long stop-motion animation film using it, and had written the script before the set was halfway complete. In January 2009, he released a teaser trailer for "The LEGO Zanzibar Movie", and initially planned to release the film in Summer 2009. The film was pushed back multiple times, and was eventually finished in July 2011. Rather than upload it himself immediately, Kobbs enteRed discussions on how best to release and promote the film. Battle of the Brick: Built for Combat premieRed on the website on November 11, 2011. It was uploaded to Kobbs' YouTube channel the following day, but it received the most attention on YouTube via a December 1 YouTube upload on the GameTrailers YouTube channel.