TH10-12 War Strategies: Attacks with Hog Riders

Hog Rider attacks and LaLoon attacks are not for the casual Clasher.  These attacks take a lot of planning, probably more so than other attack strategies.

Planning:

  • How can I achieve the key objectives?
  • How will I create my funnel for the Killsquad/Queen-Charge/Hero-Charge?
  • What spells will I need for my Killsquad/Queen-Charge?
  • How and where will I do my Hog Deployment?
  • What troops do I need for Clean-Up?

 

Since Hog Riders only target defenses (until they are all destroyed), not Heroes or enemy CC troops, there are specific key objectives that you must have a plan for.

Key Objectives, usually for your Killsquad or Queen-Charge:

  • eliminate enemy Queen
  • eliminate or deal with enemy CC troops
  • eliminate or deal with enemy King
  • destroy Giga Tesla (at TH12) — NOT ideal to be done by Hogs;  could possibly be done by a Stone Slammer
  • destroy Eagle Artillery early on — might be done by the Hogs

 

There are 4 types of Hog Rider attacks:

  1. Killsquad, then Hogs
  2. Killsquad with Healers, then Hogs
  3. Queen Charge, then Hogs
  4. Hero Charge, then Mass Hogs with Skeleton Spells

 

How do I know which style of Hog attack to use on a base?

  • IF the enemy Queen, enemy King, enemy CC radius, and TH12 Giga Telsa are all reachable by a Killsquad, then use a Killsquad or possibly Killsquad with Healers.
  • IF the enemy King, enemy CC radius, and TH12 Giga Tesla are near an edge, BUT the enemy Queen is not near them, then use a Hero Charge followed by Mass Hogs with Skeleton Spells.  This choice is not good for when the TH12 Giga Telsa is centered in the base.
  • The Queen Charge Hogs is probably the most advanced strategy out of the four.  But it is also the most flexible since it can be used on so many different base designs.
  • The Hero Charge followed by Mass Hogs with Skeleton Spells usually works best when the enemy CC has a Lavahound but could also work if you can lure out the enemy CC and eliminate it using your Queen.  The attack can fail miserably if you can’t eliminate the CC with your Queen, and the enemy CC contains Dragons or Valkyries.
  • Special Condition:  If the enemy Queen is far away from other key objectives, but near an edge where she can jump over an outer wall, then you can do a King-Queen Swap — where you wait for the enemy Queen to jump over the wall and you use just your Barb King (with the help of his ability) to take her down.  Then you can proceed with a Killsquad or Queen Charge to get to the other key objectives.

 

Suggested Troops and Spells:

  • Siege Machine:
    • If using a Killsquad:  usually a Wall Wrecker, filled with a Pekka and Ice Golem at TH12, or 1 Ice Golem and Bowlers, or all Valkyries or 1 Ice Golem and some Valkyries
      • It is possible that you might want to use a Stone Slammer for a Killsquad IF the town hall is outside of the walls where you want to enter or if the TH12 Giga Tesla is just behind one row of walls that you could access with Wall Breakers.
    • If using a Queen Charge or Hero Charge with Mass Hogs:  usually a Stone Slammer, filled with Hog Riders
  • Grand Warden set to GROUND
  • possibly some Wall Breakers IF you can get to the TH12 Giga Telsa without needing a Wall Wrecker OR possibly for a Queen Charge
  • Funneling Troops;  options include:
    • an Electro Dragon(s) and/or Baby Dragon(s)
    • some kind of tank – Ice Golem(s), Giants, or Golem(s) – along with Wizards
    • for a Queen Charge, one side of the funnel is usually your King with Wizards
    • maybe a Bowler(s)
  • possibly 1-4 Balloons to soak up a Black Air Mine or to snipe defenses that are outside and not covered by Air Defenses
  • If using a Killsquad:
    • usually some Bowlers
    • possibly 1-2 Pekkas
    • possibly 3 Healers if using the Killsquad Healers strategy
  • Lots of Hog Riders – how many depends on the number of troops used for the Killsquad / Queen Charge
  • Clean-Up Troops;  options include
    • usually 2-4 Wizards
    • possibly a Miner to get a structure inside the base
    • possibly some Minions, again maybe to get a structure inside the base
  • 1 Poison Spell for all TH11-12 attacks;  usually 2 Poison Spells at TH10
  • Spells:
    • If using a  Killsquad:  1-2 Rage;  maybe a Jump;  maybe a Heal;  maybe a Freeze for a Single-Target Inferno if it would destroy your Wall Wrecker too early
    • If using a Queen Charge:  2-3 Rage;  1 Jump spell;  maybe a Freeze for a Single-Target Inferno
    • If doing a Hero Charge, then Mass Hogs:  2 Skeleton Spells and usually 1 Rage;  maybe a Freeze if you need one to protect the Wall Breakers
  • 2-5 Heal Spells for Hogs — how many depends on number of spells needed for Killsquad / Queen Charge

 

How It Works:

  1. Funnel Creation 
  2. Killsquad or Queen Charge or Hero Charge:  takes down as many key objectives as possible.  Remember, you must have a plan for the enemy Queen and enemy CC troops.  Hogs will not eliminate them.  The number and type of Spells you use on your Killsquad or Queen Charge will depend on how far you need it to push and stay alive.
  3. Grand Warden:  with Killsquad or Hogs?
    • For Killsquads:  If you need the Killsquad to take down a lot of defenses or to survive through a TH12 Giga Tesla’s explosion, then you will need the Grand Warden with the Killsquad.  But if the Killsquad does not need to push far and the Hogs are going to need to take down the Eagle Artillery, then use the Grand Warden with the Hogs.
    • For a Queen Charge:  Usually the Grand Warden is used with the Hogs to help them survive through shots from the Eagle Artillery or through a place where the Hogs will engage lots of damage.
    • For a Hero Charge, followed by Mass Hogs:  You will need the Grand Warden with the Hogs.  You’ll use his ability right after you’ve placed the Skeleton Spells on the enemy Queen so that the Skeletons are temporarily invincible.  Usually a Rage Spell is also used for the Skeletons to take down the enemy Queen.
  4. Hog Deployment:
    • You want a predictable path for the Hogs, usually an L-path since the Killsquad/Queen-Charge/Hero-Charge will cut out one piece of the base.  Therefore you must deploy the Hogs adjacent (next to) where the Killsquad/Queen-Charge/Hero-Charge entered.
    • You may need to save 3-6 Hogs per defense for any outside defenses that would otherwise cause your main group of Hogs to veer away from their main path.  You’ll see this being done in the videos.
    • Do NOT deploy your Hogs all from one tile.  Either use a two-finger drop or a “wall of hogs” (your finger going back and forth on the screen) or a semi-surgical technique (6-8 hogs per defense that are in the same area).  The main group of Hogs should be deployed from the same general area, not two separate areas and not too wide apart.
  5. Heal Spells for Hogs:  Use Heal Spells to keep Hogs alive through:
    • Lots of defenses targeting the Hogs at once
    • Shots from the Eagle Artillery
    • Giant Bombs and Bomb Towers
    • Multi-Target Infernos
    • Wizard Towers, especially after a Giant Bomb or Bomb Tower
    • NOTE:  If the Killsquad is initially tanking for the Hogs, you can be patient before using your first Heal Spell.
  6. Clean-Up:  Usually this is done by 2-4 Wizards.  The Wizards should be deployed on the opposite end of the trash buildings from where the Hogs end up after destroying the last set of defenses.  However, beware if there is a structure inside of the base that Wizards would not be able to reach.  If that exists, you want either a Miner or some Minions to reach that inner structure.  If using Minions, use a test Minion first to soak up a Red Air Bomb, then followed by the remaining 1-2 Minions.

 

Special Notes about the TH12 Giga Tesla:

It is rarely a good idea to expect your Hog Riders to take down a Giga Tesla.  It can be done, but usually the Hogs die quickly from the Giga Tesla, and you would need a Heal/Rage (and/or maybe a Freeze) plus the Grand Warden’s ability.  However a Stone Slammer could be a plausible way of taking down the Giga Tesla.  However, it is important to understand how/when the Giga Tesla pops out from the Town Hall.  It pops out when something hits it (an Earthquake Spell works) OR when 51% of the base has been destroyed.  If the Giga Tesla has not popped out of the Town Hall building, then Hogs or a Stone Slammer will NOT target it!

 

Videos:

This first video, by Clash with Eric, shows attacks that use a Killsquad and also some that use a Queen Charge.

 

The next video shows several attacks that use a Hero Charge followed by Mass Hogs and 2 Skeleton Spells.  It ends with an attack using a Killsquad with Healers followed by Hogs.

 

Other Videos by Clash with Eric using Hogs:

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