(Stats and writeup by Delpez)

Another close war and another come-from-behind victory! With 90 minutes on the clock we were still 15 stars behind, but a solid clean-up strategy and some impressive attacks sealed the win. We also got the wrong end of the matchmaker, as the following tables show:

Nr. of TH’s

Average experience per TH

Not a complete mismatch, but certainly not in our favour. The 0.16 difference in TH level is significant, and they had three more high level bases. Their TH10’s were also more advanced, but our TH8’s compensated somewhat – both in numbers and experience level. The attack stats and stars left per base are shown next:

Attack stats

Stars left

In isolation, the 3-stars numbers suggest an easy victory. However, we left a lot of 1-stars against their TH9&10 bases. This was a deliberate move towards the end of the war to clean up TH8 bases, and the strategy worked out well. However, it also shows that we can improve quite a bit by getting 2- or 3-stars against high level bases on a more consistent basis. The performance and attacking strategies per TH level are discussed next.

We have a couple of new TH5’s, and wars are difficult at that level. Your only real option is a giant/healer army, backed up by archers/wizards. Giants or a high level healer in the clan castle can go a long way in ensuring a successful attack. The strategy is to first take out the clan castle troops, then take out the air defence with your giants before dropping the healers. Once the giants have most of the aggro, deploy your ranged troops. This strategy is also viable at TH6, and some of the skills you’ll learn are also applicable for higher level attacks (such as GoWiPe), so this is an ideal opportunity to practice. Just keep in mind that you are not expected to make much of a contribution until TH7, so just have fun and learn!

At TH7 dragons are still the only effective attacking option, and even the new air blower is not enough to prevent an easy 3-star against another TH7. However, at TH8 the blower has changed things quite a bit. During this war it appeared as though our TH8’s were struggling, but looking at the numbers they actually smashed the opposition pretty hard. TH8 3-star percentages have certainly dropped – in the past it ranged from the high 30% upwards. These days 30% 3-stars against other TH8’s seems like a good number, and that includes TH8 GoWiPe attacks. This presents an opportunity – previously TH8’s pretty much cancelled each other out in wars, since the attacks were easier. Since that is no longer the case, one can now build up a substantial advantage at this level. This means that GoWiPe and Hog attacks are becoming more important at TH8, as their 3-star percentages have not changed with the blower, while dragons have taken a hit.

At TH9&10 we scored more 3-stars at a higher percentage, but left a lot of stars behind as well. As discussed earlier, this was partly due to the fact that they had more high level bases, but also because we decided to clean up TH8 bases towards the end of the war, leaving a number of 1-star bases behind. Attacking options really opens up at this level (I can only talk about TH9 – not sure how this changes at TH10). GoWipe and Hog variants are strong against the right bases, and Lavaloon seems very powerful against some low-mid TH9’s. There’s also a lot of scope to improvise, like using Hogs in a GoWiWi attack to clear a cluster of defences (see Syn’s attack against #15). I guess matching the base to an attacking strategy is key, and one of the most important skills at higher levels. This link (provide by Jonneh) is still pretty valid, even though it was posted before the air blower. It shows how to attack the popular bases, and how to execute most TH9 attacks:

https://www.reddit.com/r/clashofclansmu/comments/2mcxx5/common_war_bases

A final comment – the air blower has made dragon attacks at TH9 much harder. Dragons used to have a decent chance to 2-star a TH9 base, and although still possible, that percentage have certainly decreased. Even more reason to max everything at TH8, since you really need GoWiPe and Hogs to contribute as a new TH9.

SynCaine edit: To add to what Delpez wrote, at TH8+, especially once you have multiple attack types maxed (hogs, gowipe, lavaloonion), it becomes very important to carefully review the base you are attacking and build the correct mix of troops. To do this successfully you have to learn how many troops it will take to get something done.

For example, if there is a cannon or tower on the outside of the base without air defense coverage, a loon or two to take it out might make sense, but you need to learn and correctly estimate how many loons you will need to get the job done. If that attack can also pull the CC, that is a major bonus, and is again something to factor in to your overall attack plan/build.

In addition to bringing the correct troops, you should also actually plan out the attack how you expect it to go, as you often will have to drop certain troops at a certain time, rather than just dumping everything at the start like at lower TH levels. This takes a lot of practice, as predicting the AI in CoC is very difficult, and traps/teslas will also change things up for you. You will screw attacks up often, so don’t get discouraged.

On the other side of things, designing your base correctly is the reverse of attack planning. You want your base to be as difficult to predict as possible, and to ‘trick’ someone into thinking something will work against you. This is why taking a base off the internet isn’t recommended; while it might work well vs the average player who doesn’t do his research, against a skilled clan you are easy stars.

The best way to make a great base is to understand the basics of CoC AI, the basics of base design, and then refine your base design anytime someone around your level has a successful attack against it (if your are a TH8 and a TH10 gets 3-stars, not much you can do in terms of design).

Question for the clan: Would people be interested in the occasional trophy push? One weekend every month or so we all try to go as high as possible in trophies, just to see how high we can get our total as a clan. Just a ‘go for big numbers’ thing, but perhaps something fun to do as a clan? Drop a comment for yes/no and why.