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.