Shipwreck

There's a user on the Reddit internet site named spAnser that frequently data mines the files from the game server to look for any changes in code or any text or images that might hint towards a new update or new troops.  He's actually leaked many of the new troops and updates days or weeks ahead of Supercell's official Sneak Peaks, so the information he finds is pretty reliable.  About six months ago, he posted this to Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ClashOfClans/comments/576aqr/misc_spoilers/

This post accurately leaked many updates that would eventually come in a future update (the new Halloween decorations, the new air defense level, and the new hog rider and golem levels).  But he also found images of a shipwreck:

He also found a .csv file that had info related to the shipyard, seeming to indicate that it unlocks at TH4 and costs 50,000 gold to fix (kind of like how there's a broken clan castle, which you can repair to create/join clans when you first start the game).

Anyways, this was leaked 6 months ago, and there hasn't been any news about these shipwreck images or any confirmation from Supercell officials.  Until this hit this morning:

https://forum.supercell.com/showthread.php/1482427-The-One-ONLY-Update-Thread

The gist of the update reads:

What we know aboat the update:

• Not Town Hall 12.
• No level 13 walls.
• Its unique from any update, and it's huge.

Everyone is assuming that the misspelling of 'about' to 'aboat' is deliberate and they are purposefully referencing the boat/shipwreck rumors.

#9

Drop king at the point indicated above.  It should enter the CC ring and lure them out.  When they start attacking your king, drop a poison on them and drop your queen as close as possible to your king to take out the CC troops.

Drop your CC lava hound, quickly followed by your other lava hounds roughly around the points indicated.  And IMMEDIATELY after dropping your lava hounds...

Release all your balloons behind your lava hounds, as RAPIDLY as possible.  I use three or four fingers to scatter them fast behind my lava hounds.  The faster you can drop your balloons after your lava hounds, the higher the chance of success on the attack.  Don't worry about accuracy deploying the balloons, focus on speed.

Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys - Base #6

First drop a hog in southwest to lure out the CC.  You might not get *all* the wizards out, but as long as you get a majority out, lava pups can finish off the remaining few.

Drop your king in the very bottom corner to draw the troops down south, and then hit them with a poison and your queen to finish them off.

Drop your lava hounds in the following order pictured above.  Drop the CC lavaloon first, and quickly drop the rest around the top in a wide arc.  Dropping the lava hounds out wide does two things: it draws the attention of more defenses, and it sweeps up air traps so they don't hit your balloons.  I just drew the red lines to show the predicted pathing of the lava hounds, for those curious.

After your last lava hound is dropped, IMMEDIATELY release all your balloons in a wide arc, from left to right.  It's very important to drop your balloons right after your lava hounds are dropped, because the lava hounds won't last long without the balloons destroying defenses.

The rest of the attack comes down to spell placement.  Use hastes and rages on the appropriate defense clusters (I would use the rages on the xbows and air defenses).  And if you have a remaining poison, use it on the queen to weaken her for lava pups to finish her off.  Try not to have your spells overlap to make the most out of them.  This attack all comes down to speed and spells.  Good luck!

One Man Clan - Tactic Vs. #8

Army composition: 3 lava hounds, 26 balloons

Spells: 3 rages, 2 hastes, 1 poison

CC: max lava hound and max poison

(see image above) Drop CC hound and all lava hounds quickly so they stay together.  They should all head towards the nearest air defense.  Poison the CC IMMEDIATELY.

After dropping all lava hounds and poisoning the CC, VERY RAPIDLY release all your balloons in a wide arc behind your hounds (see image above).

After that, the rest of the attack is all about spell placement.  The enemy CC is the biggest threat, so focus on taking them out.  When the hounds pop and release the lava pups, quickly throw a rage on the lava pups.  Use your second poison if the CC manages to move out of the first poison.  If you manage to kill the CC with just one poison, use the remaining poison on the queen.  While all of this is going on, be sure to use hastes on your balloons to speed them around to their targets.

One Man Clan - Tactic Vs. #9

Army composition: 3 lava hounds, 25 balloons, 5 archers

Spells: 3 rages, 2 hastes, 1 poison

CC: max lava hound and max poison

(see image above) Drop CC hound and all lava hounds quickly in a tight bunch so they stay together.  They should all head towards the nearest air defense.

After dropping all lava hounds, IMMEDIATELY follow it up by releasing all your balloons in a wide arc behind your hounds (see image above).

After that, the rest of the attack is all about spell placement.  The enemy CC is the biggest threat, so focus on taking them out.  Poison them when lock on to your hounds, and when the hounds pop and release the lava pups, quickly throw a rage on the lava pups.  Use your second poison if the CC manages to move out of the first poison.  If you manage to kill the CC with just one poison, use the remaining poison on the queen.  Use hastes on your balloons to speed them around to their targets.  And of course, use archers on the corner huts.

Rotten's TH10 War Base

Ballooning Basics

These are just some general tips on attacking with balloons.  I will try to expand on these later in more detail.

Level 6 balloons are essential for attacking TH9 and above.  The damage and health increase between level 5 and 6 balloons is enormous, so if you want to use balloons in your attacks, I highly suggest upgrading them to level 6 first.

Balloons have two key weaknesses: clan castle troops and the queen.  An attack CANNOT get three stars if the clan castle troops or queen is left alive.   Clan castle troops will chase balloons all around the map and balloons will not retaliate.  The queen will chase balloons in her range and mow them down in seconds.  This cannot be said enough: find a way to kill the CC and queen first if you want a three star attack.

There are two types of balloon attacks I like to use: balloon spam and lavaloon.

Balloon Spam

• Good for raids and looting bases
• Easy to get 2 stars, difficult to get 3
• 20-30 minions, the rest balloons.
• 2 rage, 4 haste, 1 poison (to use on clan castle troops or queen)
• CC: Balloons and haste or skelly (to distract queen)

Drop all of your balloons over two adjacent sides of a base, trying to spread them out liberally (balloons are less effective in clumps).  Use hastes to speed balloons into the base, and rages near the core or near air defenses.  This will usually eliminate a good 70-80% of the defensive structures, at which point you can let loose your minions and your king and queen to loot the undefended portions of the base, or even try to three star the base if the balloons took out a big enough chunk of the defenses.


Lavaloon

• War attack, more difficult to use successfully than balloon spam
• Better chance of 3 star, but lower chance of 2 stars (high risk, high reward)
• 3 lavaloons, the rest balloons
• 2 rage, 4 haste, 1 poison (to use on clan castle troops or queen)
• CC: Lava hound and haste or skelly (to distract queen)

The first step in this attack is finding a way to take out the clan castle troops.  If there is no way to safely take out the clan castle troops, I would recommend not using this attack, as it will not lead to 3 stars.  If the enemy clan castle is close enough to the edge to lure the troops out, I would send out something to lure them (a giant or hog perhaps), and then lure the troops out to the edge and kill them with your queen.  You'll most likely have to use your queen's ability to kill the clan castle troops, and you might even sacrifice the queen early, but it's a necessary step.

The next concern is the enemy queen.  If the queen is close enough to the edge of the base, sometimes the king can actually close the distance and eliminate the queen.  If the queen is nested deep in the base, however, you can use a poison and a skeleton spell to take her out.  But the timing of these spell drops is key: you must drop it after the queen has been surrounded by balloons, lava hounds, and lava pups.  With all these troops around to distract her (and any nearby defenses), the poison will slow down her rate of fire, and the skeletons will quickly shred her.

So, after the CC has been eliminated (and if you're lucky, the enemy queen too), deploy all of your lava hounds to cover two sides of a base.  Deploy them WIDE, so that they can sweep up any air traps in their path, and so they can draw the attention of as many defenses as possible.  The primary purpose of the lava hound is to protect your balloons.

Quickly follow up with all of your balloons, also spread wide to maximize destruction (try your best to avoid clumping balloons).  Deploy the balloons to cover two sides of a base, don't deploy them over all 4 sides.  Use haste spells to speed up the balloons from the outer fringes of the base quickly into the core, and use rage on balloons to take out air defenses or large clusters of defenses.  Drop poison and skelly over the enemy queen once your army has swarmed her to take her out.

If your balloons can manage to eliminate all of the defenses, there's a good chance of getting 3 stars.  Practice makes perfect, good luck!

War Vs. 600 Squad (Spy intel courtesy of ricey)

Clan castle troops are listed below their picture, with troop level indicated in brackets.

CC: 3 barbs [max], 3 archers [6], 6 wizards [max]

CC: 1 dragon [5], 2 balloons [max]

CC: baby dragon [3] and 5 wizards [6]

CC: 1 dragon [5], 2 balloons [max]

CC: baby dragon [3] and 5 wizards[6]

CC: dragon [5]

CC: 1 archer [max], 3 minions [6], 1 valk [max]

CC: 1 archer [max], 3 wizards [6], 1 minion [6]


Thanks again double agent ricey ;)

TH8 GoVaHo Video Guide

Here's a video I found that details how to use a GoVaHo attack at TH8, with many examples against TH8s and even a TH9.  His style is different from mine in terms of spells and army composition, but of course there is no one "right way" to attack.  Experiment and find what works best for you.

https://youtu.be/-i3jlUVD1No

War vs. Empire, Battle Plan for Nat vs. #4

Step 1: Use 2 lightning/1 quake combos to kill the 2 air defenses highlighted above

Step 2:  Drop both your king and queen at the yellow star highlighted above.  It should easily be able to take out the enemy queen, nearby air defense, and the nearby archer tower, along with some other buildings.  The king and queen won't last very long, but we just need them to take out those few key defenses for your dragons.

Step 3: Send in your dragons from the upper right and hope for the best.  2 stars is definitely achievable, and with a little luck, 3 stars is possible.