Been meaning to post some math here for a while, but I keep distracted hehe.
Anyways, I get asked these questions often, so here's some math for folks.
1. Are giants or barbs more effective as meat shields (i.e., decoys?)
OK, as in all things, there are no completely right or wrong choices. It's about how you use troops.
But, in the purest form, as a decoy or meat shield, consider that L6 giants have 800 health for 5 occupancy. On a per occupancy basis, that is 800/5 or 160 health. This contrasts to L6 barbs with 110 health. So, giants have 45% more meat or fat to shed. For L5, giants on a per occupancy basis is 134 vs L5 barbs 95, 41% higher.
So, the giants offer 40-45% more health, normalizing for occupancy slots, if you use them purely as decoys.
On the flip side, because of the "centralization" of giants and the inherent less diversification, you have to use them more strategically and pinpoint exactly where those fatsos need to go. 25 barbs vs. 5 giants obviously offers 23 more different decoy spots. Are you needing a scattered meat shield that will disappear quickly (barbs) or a more centralized, longer lasting meat shield (giants)?
2. Goblins as a Defender
There is a long-standing, almost tradition of archers as a preferred CC defender. This harkens back to before the change where CC troops can jump over walls. But, slowly, I see on forums an increasing level of chat about goblins as defenders.
First, off, let's state the obvious: if you are expecting air-borne attacks (dragons, primarily, but balloons/healer as well to a lesser extent), of course, archers have the added advantage of defending against that, whereas barbs and goblins do not.
OK, let's say you are a farmer and generally do not expect dragon attacks. Let's review the damage for gobs vs. barbs vs. archer:
Gob level 5: 32
Arch level 5: 20
Arch level 6: 22
Barb level 5: 23
Barb level 6: 26
So, goblins will outhit even level 6 Arch or Barbs. And their health is higher than archers (52 vs. 40 for Archer 5 and 44 for Archer 6). Their health is lower than Barbs but I tend to find that if the defending troops run fast enough to the attacking raiders, you will often see the raiding forces attack a building while the defenders hit free-for-all against the raider. (Exception is if the attacker employs the baiting method to draw out, then lure them away)
Before, defenders could not jump over walls, and it made complete sense to put a CC in the middle of one's village and have them shoot freely at the attackers banging their foreheads against the outer walls. But, after the change, I'd recommend you factor your village design. If your CC is still in the middle, and have something, either a building or walls, that would naturally separate your defending archers against the attackers, then yes, that sort of layout does favor an archer.
But, if your design does not give that natural spacing, and you find your archers just running straight at the attackers, then I would encourage you to consider goblins as well. Btw, I put my CC outside my walls, as a decoy and an afterthought. I don't find it matters much frankly, whether I have goblins, archers, or even any troops. I was away for a week on vacation last week, and I didn't have any troops at all in my CC, and I didn't find it mattered. But, this will differ for all types.
I do find myself appreciating how fast those little green fellas run to the defense though...
3. How Many Hits Can Your Troops Withstand?
There is a common saying... get your mortars to 5, so you can "one shot" L5 archers, which is a commonly used attacking force. Now, you hear, get mortar 6 to one shot L6 archers...
Let's broaden this thought. How about teslas? Wizard towers? How about against barbarians? There's then a logical grid, required number of attacking shots from a defending building vs. health of attacking troop.
I'm not sure how to copy Excel into a forum post, so let me offer some snippets. The following are gross oversimplifications of higher level troops against higher level tesla, wiz tower, mortar, cannons, archer tower.
Barbarians, L5 or L6, will generally survive at least two shots if not more from mortars, wiz towers, teslas, cannons, and archers. Tie this into the meat shield discussion as helpful timing thoughts.
Archer, with their lower health, will generally get one shot from almost anything. Distance, and lagging their deployment, are important to avoid that.
Giants, if you normalize for occupancy for comparison sake, can generally withstand 3-4 rounds of shots (15 if you do not, on a gross basis).
So, what do you do with this? Many people attack with a medley of archers, goblins, and giants/barbs as decoys... I just find it surprising how many people do not stage (i.e., stutter step) their attack with this timing point above. Throwing everything at a single wall point in a complete zerg rush is not that optimal.
Anyways, I didn't intend to write a strategy guide here, just some math behind troops to spark some thoughts.
Illustris, Munching Popcorn
