Layer Scouting
THIS IS MY FIRST GUIDE, AND IS REALLY OLD :P
Created and completed Feb 7, 2015.
Created and completed Feb 7, 2015.
Introduction:
Note: This guide isn't a gowipe/gowiwi guide. This is how to view bases in layers.
Welcome to my Base Break Down - How to Scout a Base guide where I'll be teaching you how to section off, and break down a base in order to 3 star it. Just a friendly reminder that as of now (Feb), I don't have as much experience with Lavaloon so I won't be covering that side of the story as much. I'll be mostly teaching about how to think about looking at a base in layers, as well as sectioning off defenses. As you get higher into the TH9 area,s Queen killing is also important but I will get to that topic in another guide so for now, this guide will be done to colour code and provide a visual representation of what I'm sure is pretty natural for those that know how to break down a base. This guide will open up more areas of another guide that I will be posted [How to Side Loon/Hogging] and just provide one example as of now. To learn more in-depth about side hogging/looning, please visit the guide once it's made.
Note: This guide isn't a gowipe/gowiwi guide. This is how to view bases in layers.
Welcome to my Base Break Down - How to Scout a Base guide where I'll be teaching you how to section off, and break down a base in order to 3 star it. Just a friendly reminder that as of now (Feb), I don't have as much experience with Lavaloon so I won't be covering that side of the story as much. I'll be mostly teaching about how to think about looking at a base in layers, as well as sectioning off defenses. As you get higher into the TH9 area,s Queen killing is also important but I will get to that topic in another guide so for now, this guide will be done to colour code and provide a visual representation of what I'm sure is pretty natural for those that know how to break down a base. This guide will open up more areas of another guide that I will be posted [How to Side Loon/Hogging] and just provide one example as of now. To learn more in-depth about side hogging/looning, please visit the guide once it's made.
INDEX
[1000]3.5J Layer Scouting
[2000]Identifying Key Parts to Troops/Compositions
~~~[2100]Why straight forward Gowipe/Gowiwi Won't Work
[3000] Addressing the .5 Layer
~~~~Addressing it with Loons
~~~~~~Air Defense radius check
~~~~Addressing it with Hogs
~~~~~~Traps, Pathing, and Sections
~~~How Many Side Troops do you Need?
[4000]Executing the Plan
[1000]3.5J Layer Scouting
[2000]Identifying Key Parts to Troops/Compositions
~~~[2100]Why straight forward Gowipe/Gowiwi Won't Work
[3000] Addressing the .5 Layer
~~~~Addressing it with Loons
~~~~~~Air Defense radius check
~~~~Addressing it with Hogs
~~~~~~Traps, Pathing, and Sections
~~~How Many Side Troops do you Need?
[4000]Executing the Plan
This guide will be using an example of what my thought process were for attacking Base #28 when I was with my old clan. Even though I have failed this attack in reality (I didn't use jump spell since it was Lv1 and opt-ed for Rage WB which didn't break through to the core), the correct mindset and break down of this base is what I believe is the most valuable lesson for this Base Break Down Scouting guide,
[1000]
3.5J Layer Scouting
A-Layer: The Outer ring, where mostly all the point defenses are.
B-Layer: The Secondary ring, behind the A-Layer
C-Layer: The Core Layer (Purple). Where usually the Clan Castle and/or Town Hall is located.
.5 Layer: It's the back side of the A-Layer. Technically it's part of A, but it's not as when you attack it from one side, the opposite side then turns into a new layer to be addressed.
Junk Layer: J for junk (grey), as in the outside buildings.
When it comes to breaking down a base, there are two parts to it, which is what I term the [3.5J Scouting], which to be honest doesn't have to be as flashy and colour like what I have done above, but for the sake of teaching and visual representation, I have created this to show the process. When it comes to the base, the most important part and the difference between a 2 star attack and a 3 star attack, is not the C-Layer (purple) where the core is, but rather it's the B layer, as well as the .5 Layer where you should be addressing. So why is there 3.5 Layers but not 3 Layers? It's due to the fact that once you deal with the front side of a circle, the back side of that circle automatically becomes a new Layer that you need to address. Let's say you break into that A-Layer Ring from one side, that means that your troops will go towards the middle, and then the other half of that Layer you broke, becomes a secondary force that hits on your troop.s That's why it's technically not a 4th layer, but it's still another 'layer' that most people don't seem to realize and thus aren't able to 3 star a base. More on that later.
B-Layer: The Secondary ring, behind the A-Layer
C-Layer: The Core Layer (Purple). Where usually the Clan Castle and/or Town Hall is located.
.5 Layer: It's the back side of the A-Layer. Technically it's part of A, but it's not as when you attack it from one side, the opposite side then turns into a new layer to be addressed.
Junk Layer: J for junk (grey), as in the outside buildings.
When it comes to breaking down a base, there are two parts to it, which is what I term the [3.5J Scouting], which to be honest doesn't have to be as flashy and colour like what I have done above, but for the sake of teaching and visual representation, I have created this to show the process. When it comes to the base, the most important part and the difference between a 2 star attack and a 3 star attack, is not the C-Layer (purple) where the core is, but rather it's the B layer, as well as the .5 Layer where you should be addressing. So why is there 3.5 Layers but not 3 Layers? It's due to the fact that once you deal with the front side of a circle, the back side of that circle automatically becomes a new Layer that you need to address. Let's say you break into that A-Layer Ring from one side, that means that your troops will go towards the middle, and then the other half of that Layer you broke, becomes a secondary force that hits on your troop.s That's why it's technically not a 4th layer, but it's still another 'layer' that most people don't seem to realize and thus aren't able to 3 star a base. More on that later.
[2000]
Identifying Key Parts to Troop COmposition
When it comes to troops composition and troop preference, some layers and buildings/traps have a bigger impact to attacking than others. For example, in my TH8 Dragon Guide in a Dragon attack, most likely you'd need to address the [Junk] Layer for Funneling, the Storages for time, the ADs as the main threat, as well as the Third AD for the second threat. Storages and junk building for example, doesn't have as big of an impact compared to giant bomb placement.
I'll be skipping over why full hog rider composition and dragon wouldn't work on this base for some obvious reason. Hogs have double giant bomb threats, and this base is wayyy to wide so hogs would have to spread. Dragons have very low chance of 3 starring TH9s even with exposed ADs due to all the junk/storages as well as the 4 Seeking air mines.
When I was looking at this base, (I'm not a Lavaloon user so I have no clue on how to use it so don't ask me), I thought that a combination of Gowiwi or Gowiwipe as well as side hogs/loons would be best for this base. Truthfully, that wasn't the best option to begin with as my heroes weren't as developed, but I hard to take on this base during the war. Continuing on, why would I need to side loons to begin with, why not just super rush this base with Gowipe and/or Gowiwi and hopefully everything breaks through the wall and 3 star the base? it's due to the fact that defense buildings are in different layers, and what makes all bases unique is where are all the defenses are located that makes it hard to reach and break through. By the time your troops break through the walls, your troops would have been picked off and it lowers your chance of success.
[2100] Why Straight Forward Gowipe/GOwiwi Won't WorkLet's say you have decided to attack with Gowipe/Gowiwi from the south-west side from where the Town Hall is facing and you are planning to break into the core with minimal loss.
Using my 3.5J Layering terms, you funneled your troops by breaking the Junk-Layer (grey) so that they won't be distracted.. Afterwards, you have sent your golems and wall breakers to break into A-Layer (yellow). You use a jump spell and/or wall breakers to bust down the second layer (B-Layer Red) and enter the core. Enemy clan castle didn't pose any problems, you have funneled correctly, and you have broken into the core. Yay! You might think this is a cake walk after sending EVERYTHING into the center, as well as the fact that at least half your troops/majority are alive by now right? This is a wrong way of thinking as you haven't considered there are multiple amount of defenses on the outskirts of the layers, whether it's the A layer behind (which is the .5 layer I'm talking about), or the B Layer covering the core..
Breaking Out from the Core For example if you look at this image, you can see that in the Red, B-layer, there is the two archer tower, 2 wizard tower, as well as 2 cannons that cover the Core. As your troops are mostly ground base (wizards, pekka, witch/skeletons, heroes), they are all effected by the walls that cover the sides.
Your wizards, and Archer Queen (and maybe your witches if you count them), are the only ones that are able to shoot over the wall from the Core and attack the Red Circle Defenses. this doesn't include the fact that there is still that .5 Layer of Yellow behind being fully protected from being damaged from the inside. Your Barbarian King/Pekkas (if you have them), and any other ground troops you currently use, will be mindlessly beating down that wall as everything rains inwards. As your wizards begin to spread out and attack all directions, they will be picked off, making 3 starring this base even more difficult.
The 0.5 LayerNow that you have dealt with the B-Layer, this is what's the biggest difference between a 2 star attacker and a 3 Star attacker. It is addressing the 0.5 Layer (Yellow A), on the other side that makes the difference. When I said that there are 3.5 Layers, I didn't say 4 because that technically isn't a 4th layer, but once you deal with the front side of a circle, the back side of that circle automatically becomes a new Layer that you need to address. In this image, you can see that There are still 5 potential threats within the remaining base, (excluding the AD), that could still wreck your remaining troops.
So how do you deal with it? How do you 'finish off' the remaining base? Well, the solution is to address the problem from the very beginning using either a hint of Side Loons/Side Hogs, or you can use a Jump spell to bring out all your troops earlier on, and give them access to the remaining layers. |
[3000]
Addressing the 0.5 Layer
Now that I have given you the ability to see where the problem lies, now you'll need to learn the different ways of dealing with this situation. As of now, there are only a few options to deal with the remain base. Jump spell for your ground troops to get out of the core, Hog Rider or Loons. I will show a visual example for Hogs and Loons since those are the main things that are the predominantly the most effective troops in taking out the side layers. I will be covering this more in-depth within the [How to Side Loon/Hogs] Guide.
Back to this base, you can see that the main area of concern are at the corners which makes getting to them more easier. Problem is that the corners are being protected by Wizard Towers, as well as the coverage by the Xbows. So in order for the Wizard towers not to shoot down the side loons/side hogs, having your main troops attacking first as a distraction while they are at the core.
There are two main ways that I have thought of as solutions to finish off these buildings.
Back to this base, you can see that the main area of concern are at the corners which makes getting to them more easier. Problem is that the corners are being protected by Wizard Towers, as well as the coverage by the Xbows. So in order for the Wizard towers not to shoot down the side loons/side hogs, having your main troops attacking first as a distraction while they are at the core.
There are two main ways that I have thought of as solutions to finish off these buildings.
Addressing it with LoonsWhen it comes to Side Looning a base (more in-depth details to be explained in the [Side Loon Guide] and [Holowiwi] Guide) usually it takes 2 loons to Kill a single Archer Tower. This is because the first loon that goes takes the full front of any seeking air mines, the archer tower shooting at it. The first balloon won't be able to drop the first bomb in time, but instead, it will protect the second balloon, allow it to to drop the first bomb then suicide diving at the archer tower. This is usually enough damage to kill an archer tower (but not enough for cannon). The most important thing though when it comes to using side-loons is to know where the ADs are.
Addressing it with HogsWhen it comes to hogs, their firepower comes from being in groups. anything less than 4 (so 3 hogs) will not guarantee the likely hood of destroying the first defense. Hogs are sensitive towards the amount of time it takes for them travelling from defense to defense, so if you identify a group of defenses that have no spaces/little space between them, that is a really good sign of it being hoggable. The key terms for when it comes to hogs is "flow" or "path" so you need to be able to know which direction your hogs will generally go towards. The dangers of Hogs are the double giant bombs as well as the fact that potential spring traps can skim down a nice pack of hogs.
How many Side Troops do you need?Loons: When it comes to Balloons, it takes only 2 loons to destroy an Archer Tower from the outside if it's not being protected by Air Defense. Remember the distance it needs to travel and also if you are second to attack, find out all the teslas and trap locations. If you want to hit that mortar, the wizard tower is your risk, so even if you do 3 loons (1 covers, 2 hits the archers, then both go towards the mortar), there might not be enough time for it to slowly inch to the mortar and drop the first bomb. So going with 4 loons will be more of a guarantee hitting that mortar This can only apply to the top side..
Hogs: When comes Hogs, generally it takes 4 hogs to destroy the outside building which they are more effected by the cannons/traps and wizard towers. In this siutation, trap pose almost a non-existent threat, only time vs wizard tower is your enemy. When you hog, generally 5 is enough to break and survive to hit the second defense tower. If you want your hogs to assist your main army and survive, you'll need minimum 10-12 hogs. Secondary army: When it comes to actually letting a secondary army survive though, keep in mind that Hogs work the best with 12-14 hogs in a pack. You need to remember that in TH9, there is only 220 army space, so dedicating 1/3 of your space towards 1/3 of the base, is a wise investment, but having enough troops for the main army is also important as well. And I know some readers might be asking "what about that last cannon?" That last cannon doesn't pose a real threat by itself, and also the fact that the investment to take care of it isn't worth the space and time to cover it. The most important areas are the top and the right side. You don't want to send a pack of hogs (4, 20 space) towards a single cannon and that's it. Also the fact that there is an AD protected that cannon as well so it's really a tough choice. Space is important so that cannon is a small price to pay. |
[4000]
Executing the Plan
There are two plans which you can now do.
Main army from the south-west providing distraction and destroying air defense with the secondary troops to deal with .5 by::
Plan A)followed by Loons on the north (4-5), and hogs from the east (5)
Plan B)10-12 Hogs from the East, letting them survive and go north west. There is a risk of them dying so an additional heal spell on them would be a good choice.
Main army from the south-west providing distraction and destroying air defense with the secondary troops to deal with .5 by::
Plan A)followed by Loons on the north (4-5), and hogs from the east (5)
Plan B)10-12 Hogs from the East, letting them survive and go north west. There is a risk of them dying so an additional heal spell on them would be a good choice.
That concludes my visual step by step guide to show yo guys how to look at a base. To be honest, against this specific example though, the risk factor and my choice of attack might not be the best way with dealing with this base, but I just want to demonstrate the importance of planning ahead and visually see what layers and defenses that are needed to be address in order to fully 3 star a base.
Thank you for reading and hopefully you have learn how to scout a base.
Thank you for reading and hopefully you have learn how to scout a base.