Attacking

If you don't like attacking, you're plaing the wrong game. This game is all about attacking. You'll start out using Barracks troops, because that is all the early game offers. But once you get Factories, you'll probably want to switch to mostly Factory troops. Don't keep using Barracks troops because they're familiar even after they're not working well anymore! However, in the late game you may want to switch back to Barracks troops, because they become viable again in later ages (notably, mortars, arty, and maybe attack helicopters).

Also, be sure to read my War Tactics page, because there are a few non-obvious things you should know.

It helps to know where you want to end up. When I originally wrote this (February, 2021), there were basically two end-game strategies (with Paratroopers emerging as a newer approach). Since then, the game was rebalanced and more approaches are viable. Here are details for the older two strategies, plus a page that briefly describes some other possibilites:

• Heavy Tank Attacks
• Commando Attacks
• Other Strategies

Be aware that some strategies are better at some ages. For example, Commando Attacks are still very strong starting around Industrial Age, but eventually you'll find they aren't as effective against later-age bases and want to switch to something else.

Disclaimer: If you're doing something else that works for you, great! Have fun! But if you're having trouble getting 4+ stars against similar-level opponents, the strategies described above are dependable and not hard to play once you get used to them.

Here is some general advice on attacking:

• Plan your attacks. This is the most important thing you can do. Think about where you are going to deploy your troops/tactics/etc., and how the opponent's defenses will respond. Think through a few different plans. For multiplayer attacks you only have a few seconds, but for war attacks you can scout ahead of time for as long as you want.
• That goes double for the silo. If you wait until it is shooting you to figure out what to do, you're dead.
• Watch replays of your defeats. See what your opponents are doing to you, and steal their ideas.
• Your army composition will likely change over time. What works in lower ages doesn't work in higher ones. Expect to shift strategies several times as you go through the ages.
• Experiment to see what works for you. If you find a great combination, ignore everything I say and do that instead.
• Be careful with raiders/armored cars. They tend to run around activating enemy stables/garrisons and cause you to get overrun. If you are raiding for loot in multiplayer and don't care about victories, that's fine. But if you are trying to 5-star in multiplayer, or doing war, save your raiders/cars until later in the battle, or don't use any at all.
• Troop tactics are pretty easy to come by now, but do require you to be proactive. Remember to check at Marco Polo for Troop Chests. Do some events with troop tactics as a reward. When the league boat gives you troop tactics as an option, consider taking it.
• Deploy your troops as fast as possible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoXcNqGAnk4 (Disclaimer: I did not make that video, but it helped me a lot)

And here are some tips from alliance member NomadCoach. (This is general advice, and you might want to do things differently for certain strategies or troop compositions.)

• The missile silo's bark is way worse than its bite. Don't obsess with taking it out early.
• Get your troops on the board fast. Battles are timed and quick victory is the star most often missed
• Don't bunch troops at a single point. They are more easily hit by splash damage, but more importantly multiple units target the same thing.
• Corollary: bunching wastes time as units have to retarget something else once their current target is destroyed by another of your units bunched close
• But while avoiding bunching, don't spread too thin by opening all kinds of fronts all over the board.
• Focus one things that can kill you fast. Taking out air defense allows fighters free reign. Taking out anti-tank guns makes HTs/Generals durable.
• Take a look at Betrayal. Think of it as instantly killing defenders, PLUS they fight for you. Use it on rocket troops and town center defenders.

An exception to much of the above is the "suicide run", which is an attack where you go straight for a well-protected town center. Sometimes you might do this because the base design or strength of the opponent means you're pretty sure you won't be able to get Quick Victory from 50% destruction, even though you think you'll still be able to get 50%, 75%, or even 100% destruction by the end of the battle. Sometimes you might do this because the base is strong enough that you think this is your only chance to get any stars at all. Whatever the case, the same general rules apply:

• Your army should have a lot of high-health units (including generals and some or all of your troop tactics). You might want to bring some other troops (zooks/wall miners to take out walls, whatever you prefer to suppress/kill defenders, etc.). But you are going to be taking a lot of damage fast, and you can't expect any lower health units to live long. So focus on the high-health options.
• Have a plan for things that will kill you fast. The usual list is high level generals, rocket arsenal troops, town center defenders, forest defenders, anti-tank guns and trap fields. But maybe your opponent has put out a Bazooka Tower, or you know their stronghold has tough defenders, etc. Try to disable or destroy some of that with air power, or war tactics (Sabotage, Betrayal, etc.). If you have Satellite Scan, use it early, as there's no point in waiting. If some of the defenses (especially anti-tank guns) are poorly protected, consider taking them out with Commandos before deploying the rest of your army.
• On Commandos, a "Commando Rally" means deploying one or more Commandos and immediately rallying them to whatever you want to destroy. For this to work, there must be a relatively clear path to the target (remember, Commandos can go through enemy gates, so gates count as part of a clear path). Your Commandos probably won't live long if rallied straight into the teeth of the enemy defenses, so don't expect too much out of them.
• Bring a Protect or two, and maybe a Heal, to keep your high health army alive long enough to make it to the town center. Buffs like Strength of the Gladiator (if you have a Colliseum) or drones (if you have a Drone Command) are also good.
• Deploy your troops fast, either in a bunch or along one side of the base. Suicide runs are the main exception to NomadCoach's "don't bunch your troops" rule.
• Rally to the Town Center. You might also use one or two Assault Rally tactics, either instead of or in addition to the main Rally, depending on how hard you think it will be to get there.
• Hope for the best! If it fails, it'll probably fail epically and you will not get any stars at all.
• As of summer 2023, I am Drone Age and often have to attack bases 40+ levels higher than me in war. So I end up doing a lot of suicide runs. Here is what I normally do:
• Scout the base carefully. Look for likely trap fields. Note the location of significant defenses (Castle, Rocket Arsenal, Forbidden City, Anti-Tank Guns, Air Defenses)
• Consider if a Commando Rally might be helpful. I don't do a lot of these, but when they work they can be really effective. If I do one, do it first, so that the Rally cooldown can be done by the time I'm ready to rally my other troops to Town Center.
• Satellite Scan. This is almost always along the path I expect to deploy my initial air assault. Lots of people put SAMs along the edge, spread out so you can't hit bunches of them with Satellite Scan. So if in doubt, make sure to cover the edge of the base along whichever side your planes will enter
• Very quickly, Sabotage any Air Defenses near the primary targets. Most players will use the drone that prevents Sabotages, but if you move quickly you can get the Sabotages in before the drone deploys.
• Deploy two Fighters at (or at least near) my initial targets (almost always this is two of Rocket Arsenal/Castle/Forbidden City depending on the enemy base design). The point of the Fighters is to trigger any SAMs my Satellite Scan missed, or any GCIs. I don't really expect my Fighters to do much damage, and I kind of expect them to not survive.
• Deploy two Bombers/Transports along those same paths. Right now, I'm using Bombers as my Transports aren't maxed. This part may change a bit when I get some experience with Transports, but I suspect it'll be pretty similar.
• Immediately (don't sit and watch the Bombers/Transports, just deploy them and then go straight to this step) deploy my high-health troops in a bunch. Depending on the base, I might spread them out a bit to destroy a few more buildings early, but it is faster to deploy in a bunch, makes for a more efficient rally, and make it easier to hit them all with Protect.
• Glance at the Bomber/Transport targets to see if they were destroyed. If not, try to finish the job with whatever air power has survived.
• If possible neutralize any Anti-Tank guns in my army's path to the Town Center. Use any remaining Sabotages (although usually the enemy drone makes that impossible by now) or any remaining air power. If neither of those is possible, just skip this step and hope my army survives long enough to get there.
• Unless I spread my army out, hit it with Protect.
• See where the enemy generals and forest defenders are. With the recent expansion of Castle range, it isn't uncommon to have a bunch of level 100 generals, along with their retinue, and the forest defenders, all closing in. If they're close, support my army however I can: Assault Rally to where they already are to get the attack bonuses, air power, offensive drone, Strength of the Gladiator, etc. and wait for the enemies to die.
• Rally to Town Center (or maybe Assault Rally, depending on the opponent).
• Glance around the base to make sure there's nothing else I need to do. Maybe the Forbidden City didn't get destroyed and there's something I can do about it, etc.
• Make sure my army makes it to the Town Center. Apply additional Rally or Assault Rally as needed.
• Support my army as possible via air power, additional Protect, Heal, or whatever I have left. Sabotaging the Town Center before defenders emerge is great, but I almost never find a base who doesn't prevent that via drone.
• Once the Town Center is destroyed, deploy any additional troops I've reserved for base destruction. Depending on that opponent, that might be some DPS troops from my army, troop tactics, coalition troops, donated troops, etc. But don't do that until the Town Center is down, because if I have to do an extra rally to get my high health troops to finish off the Town Center, it'll insta-kill any of my DPS troops who get rallied into the teeth of the enemy defenses.
• By the time Blitzkreig is worth doing, the buildings I'd like to use it on are usually protected by drone. But if there happens to be a chance to use it effectively anywhere in all that, work it in as it makes sense.