Did Somebody Say Hooooooog Riders??

So Clan Wars has been an enlightening experience for me. I've had the opportunity to look at multiple base designs and even more attack strategies, some good and some...well...not so good. I have also come to the conclusion that to be a more "complete" raider, you need to be able to tackle multiple base types and learn more than one or two attack strategies. One of the more popular strategies is the "hog rush," which I will be going over in this post.

This is by no means comprehensive, just a compilation of what I have learned from many attempts and several videos from Clashers much more experienced than I am. So without further ado, let's get to the fun part!

Army Composition:

• Barbarians (x15)
• Hog Riders (x37 or so)

Clan Castle:

• Wizards preferably, but Archers will also work.

Spells:

• Lightning (x1)
• Healing (x2 minimum)

Note: As you upgrade your Army Camps and Spell Factory, you just need to keep the minimum amount of Barbarians and Lightning Spells. More Hog Riders and more Healing Spells are what you are going to need to increase your success rate with this strategy. Wizards and Archers will be your primary choice for your Clan Castle reinforcements, as they will be used to destroy enemy Heroes and Clan Castle troops.

Scouting:

Picking the right base is going to be very important with this strategy, but the good news is that high level Hog Rider attacks can clear out just about any base that isn't a TH10. The addition of the multi-target Inferno Tower that stops healing effects will put a huge damper on your raid, so I wouldn't recommend tackling those bases without a Freeze Spell or two.

You will want to watch out for any base that has large gaps in the center, many Clashers are placing Giant Bombs and Spring Traps throughout the base's interior now, which will result in huge damage or immediate elimination of your troops, and you're going to need as many troops surviving as possible for this strategy to be effective.

The Attack (Phase 1):

The MOST IMPORTANT first steps in a Hog Rider attack will be to lure and destroy the enemy Clan Castle Troops and any Heroes they may have roaming the board. I have seen even a single wizard completely ruin a Hog Rider attack, so I cannot stress enough how critical this is.  The picture below shows the base I decided to attack and the location of the Clan Castle and Barbarian King.

Now that the targets have been identified, they have to be eliminated. Since they are on opposite sides of the map, I will go ahead and pull the Clan Castle troops first using a few my Barbarians, and once I have made sure that all of them are out of the Clan Castle, I will use a Lightning Spell to take them out. See the pictures below:

 

Excellent! Clan Castle troops have been destroyed, and I only used five of my Barbarians and a Lightning Spell to do so. Now I will pull the Barbarian King and take him out as well! Fortunately he is close enough to the perimeter that I can easily use my Barbarians to bring him out to a corner, and then use any remaining Barbarians, my Clan Castle troops, and my own Barbarian King to take him out.

 

 

Now that the heavy lifting is done, I have about two minutes remaining to execute the main attack and demolish this base. If I wasn't snapping screen shots the entire battle I would likely have had a few more seconds on the clock, but two minutes is typically enough to get the base taken care of.

 

The Attack (Phase 2):

 

This is where things start to get fun! The best way to deploy Hog Riders is to split them into two groups. You can take advantage of the multi-touch feature and actually drop troops on opposite sides of the map at the same time! I like to pick a cluster of defenses on each side where the troops can get in and get to work right away.

 

Now that the Hog Riders are in full swing, their health will have to be monitored. I like to wait on dropping a Healing Spell until their health starts dipping towards 50% and they are taking splash damage from either a Mortar or Wizard Tower, that way I make sure they get back up to full health and I don't lose an entire group at a time. Taking a massive troop loss soon after entry into a base can spell certain doom for the raid, so very special attention must be paid during this part. Take a look below to see where Healing Spells were dropped on larger clusters of troops.

 

At this point I have done everything that I can do. If I had more Healing Spells I would be able to further monitor the health of the troops and drop one of necessary, but it wasn't needed on the base I chose to attack. My Barbarian King and Clan Castle troops from earlier are out and about taking care of the exterior of the base and even punching in thanks to the defensive buildings that have been cleared out, and the Hog Riders have moved on to destroying the rest of the base.

 

 

Recap:

 

Not bad at all! Just remember the tips below and you should start having success with your Hog Rider raids.

• Identify the enemy Clan Castle troops and Heroes and take them out before sending in the Hog Riders.
• Deploy two different groups of Hog Riders for maximum efficiency, you don't want them all lumped together just to be taken down by a few Spring Traps and Giant Bombs.
• Use Healing Spells when necessary, you won't get too far if you neglect your troops!
• Practice, practice, practice! Any time you start learning a new strategy it's important to try it for yourself and see if you can improve it in any way or change it to suit your own play style. This is by no means the only way to attack, just a good baseline to start with.

I hope this helps! Good luck out there.



New Clash Updates - Clan Wars

Just in case you guys haven't heard, we're looking at some new and exciting features for Clan Wars!  I'll post a link to the offical forum post, but here is a quick rundown on what to expect.

War Base:

• Edit/Save War Base - Allows you to keep a different layout for Clan Wars than you do for your normal day to day activities.  Farming with your Town Hall exposed?  No problem!  Trying new defensive layouts to see what works?  Go for it!
• Go to the Clan War map and check out War Base Edit Mode during the prep phase, just make sure to do so before the war actually begins, as bases will still remain locked during the battle.
• When upgrading, remember to add new buildings to the War Base layout.

Statistics:

• A new War Stats tab will be implemented.  All of the hard work that Shelby does will now become much, MUCH easier!
• Heroic Victory/Defeat replays available.  Raid harder and try to make your way to the highlight reel!

General:

• Dismiss donated troops from your War Clan Castle if you don't like what you received.
• See who started the war and when.
• War bases are numbered on the map to make things a little easier to find.

For more notes, check out the link below!

Update: SAVED WAR BASE

375forlife - Detailed Attack Strategy - Dragon Offense

Okay, so a few quick notes on this guy in case anyone would like to run an air assault against him.  I'm including screens for optimal deployment of troops in addition to tips on where to drop Rage Spells (assuming the dragons path the way I think they will).

1. Clearing the Runway!

I recommend taking out a few buildings to get your Dragons closer to the first Air Defense.  To do so, you can use a combination of your Barbarian King/Archer Queen and Clan Castle troops.  You will want to wait to deploy these troops until the enemy Barbarian King is at his high pathing point and will take longer to attack your troops.

In my opinion, the best location is below.  This will make sure that the troops clear out the Army Camp and Elixir Pump and continue to move right.  See the pictures below.

2. Troop Deployment.

You'll want to start deploying your dragons right where the BK/CC troops were sent, and send them in a line parallel with the walls/buildings.  See the picture below.

3. Rage Spells

The most critical aspect of a solid Dragon attack is the use of Rage Spells.  The first rage spell will be dropped as soon as your Dragons are deployed to ensure that they make it to the first Air Defense.  The second will be dropped once the Dragons path farther into the base.  This should guarantee maximum strength when destroying the second Air Defense, enemy Clan Castle Troops, and the Town Hall.  See the pictures below, red circles indicate the target Air Defense, purple circles indicate where the Rage Spell should be dropped.

After the initial deployment and the Rage Spells being dropped, the only opposition remaining are a few Archer Towers and the final Air Defense.  The Town Hall, Clan Castle troops and about half of the base should be demolished by this point.  With a little bit of luck, your Dragons will be on their way the the third and final Air Defense.  Assuming you have a group of three or more, you can drop your last Rage Spell at the location indicated below.

4. Good luck!

This is by no means a guaranteed attack strategy, just how I would handle it if I were to attack the base with an air assault.  This will hopefully give you a few ideas as to my thought process and how I analyze a base prior to burning it to the ground.  I would also recommend Level 3 Dragons and Level 3-4 Rage Spells due to the level of the enemy Air Defense and Archer Towers.

Graphic Design - My Worst Nightmare

So I've spent a few hours now trying a few different things to make a custom banner for the page, what you're currently seeing is purely a test run. I'm not incredibly talented at this sort of thing but I feel like personalizing the page a bit would be something fun and I can slowly re-learn how to properly use editing software. Hopefully by the time the weekend is over I will have something with a bit more polish that I can be proud of.

A Brief Tutorial on Dragons

Okay, I haven’t done a guide on anything before, so please bear with me as this is my first attempt at putting things on paper that make sense inside of my own head. The idea is to give you the run-down on choosing a base and executing a proper attack, so I’ll do my best to keep it to the basics and not ramble on for days. That being said, here we go!

Army Compostion:
Dragon (x10 minimum)

Clan Castle:
Dragon (x1)

Spells:
Rage (x3 minimum)

Note: As you upgrade your Army Camps and Spell Factory, feel free to throw in other troops/spells to support your flying beasts, or even more Dragons! I would recommend sticking to air troops since you’ll be completely eliminating Mortars and Cannons from the opposing defense. You could eventually throw in a Lightning Spell or two to eliminate a hard-to-reach Air Defense that might cut your raid shorter than anticipated.

Scouting:

Okay, so you’ve waited hours for your Dragons and Rage Spells to brew, and now you’re chomping at the bit to let these bad boys fly. But not so fast! You need to make sure you’re putting all of that elixir and time to good use. You typically want to look for bases that have neglected their Air Defenses, you’ll see they are a much lower level than the other defenses they have. You could also look for any level Air Defenses that are placed poorly.

See the picture below, this base has (1) an Air Defense that I shouldn’t have any problems reaching with my Dragons, and (2) a low level Air Defense right on the border. There is (3) a centralized Air Defense, but I should have more than enough Dragons to take it out and I will keep a Rage Spell to make sure they get a little extra push when I need them to.

The Attack (Phase 1):

When you see Air Defenses similar to positions (1) and (2), you will want to drop my Dragons spread out in a line as close to them as possible. That ensures that the dragons don’t path to far away and blatantly ignore the Air Defense while getting shot down.  The Dragon in the Clan Castle will get dropped alongside the rest of the army. You will also want to drop a rage spell on each grouping of Dragons near an Air Defense, this makes sure they plow through the outside buildings quickly and make their way towards their intended targets.

See the pictures below.

 

 

The Attack (Phase 2):

The initial attack phase won’t last very long due to the Rage Spells, your Dragons will start to progress towards the middle of the base (hopefully!) and start tearing down defenses, Clan Castle troops and the Town Hall. They will start taking damage from remaining defenses, but this is where the last Rage Spell comes in handy.

In this example, I waited until my Dragons were approaching the last Air Defense and managed to get the boost I needed to tear it down. I tend to drop them in between my Dragons and the target, that way they don’t waste time clearing through garbage, and are still enraged when they arrive where I need them.

 

The Attack (Phase 3):

Phase 3 doesn’t involve much outside of sitting back and watching the fruits of your labor. If everything has gone according to plan, your Dragon army will have taken down all of the major defenses and will be lazily flying about destroying what remains as they please.

Recap:

So in closing, there are a few important things to remember:

• Look for a base with lower level or easily accessible Air Defense.
• Deploy Dragons in a line, this keeps them spread out to avoid Air Bomb/Mine damage and they destroy more buildings simultaneously.
• Use a Rage Spell or two right off the bat to get them up close and personal with the nearby Air Defenses.
• Save a Rage Spell or two for later in the fight when you need a push to get further into the base.
• Have fun! Dragons and Rage Spells take quite some time to brew, so do your best to enjoy and appreciate the work that goes into these attacks.

Hopefully this will help out some of my fellow Clashers out there. If I've left anything out or you seem room for improvement, feel free to let me know!