TH8 vs TH8 war - looking to improve

Here are my troops and here is the base I attacked:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8848/1...e281cb5c_z.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8877/1...90c705d9_z.jpg

Yes, I know the war has ended, but I am always looking for ways to improve. Before you read on to see what I did, how would you have attacked?

I brought 8x L3 dragons, 8x L5 balloons, 5x L6 balloons in my clan castle, and 3x lightning. Other strong units I had access to include L3 pekkas, L2 golems, L2 witches for the clan castle.

I zapped the east AD. Funneled all 8 dragons towards the west AD. When a dragon got targeted by the archer tower at 2 o'clock, I dropped 4 L5 balloons to take out that archer tower. Two L6 teslas popped up to the L & R of the TH. Enemy clan castle had 1 witch, a few wizards, and the rest archers - unfortunately that tied up my dragons, and they didn't take out the town hall. When a dragon drew fire from the bottom AD, I dropped my BK to draw fire from the two archer towers, then deployed the CC balloons + my remaining 4 balloons to target the left archer tower, then path to AD. That got ruined when a tesla popped up just below the AD.

Ended up with only 1 star. :(

I'm 11 days away from L4 hogs.

Considering the layout of that base with open passage ways giving freedom to move from one compartment to the next, and the troops you have available, I would had suggested a Gowiwipe. 2 Golems, couple max witches in the CC, 2 Pekkas, rest wizards, 3 rage spells, make a good funnel on the side you choose for entry, and you would had wrecked that base.

I would use gowipe, gowiva, or goho. 2 golems entry points by those open mortars to draw fire, with wizards spread out behind to create funnel. Wall breakers and Pekkas or Valkyries up the middle. Hogs scattered in the backend.

Thanks guys - given the open layout, I'm embarrassed to admit not having thought of using a ground-based attack. :facepalm:

Stay away from GoWiPe unless you are attacking a base well out of your range to trying and pick up a star to get the war win for your clan. I know lots of people like gowipe, but don't get stuck in the trap of mediocrity. Anyway, that base is a great hog base, you can be pretty sure of where the bombs/teslas are, and because its pretty open, a golem will be able to stroll around and tank the whole time for your pigs...lvl3 can work, but its better to use them for a cleanup on a base like that once you know where the giant bombs are so you can heal appropriately. Once you get them to lvl4, use them as much as you can, mostly because hogs will probably be the first max troop you will get when you become TH9, so having some experience with them will help you in the long run. Keep in mind the base layout though...some bases are better than others for hogs.

Gowipe or Hog that base. Watch Galadon's TH8 Let's Play series there is this base there and different ways we have attacked it. Hope this helps! Cheers and good luck!