The Impossible TH 8 Anti-Hog Transformers Base

[HexxenHammer]

Mid TH 8 here. I've been using the hexxenhammer version (archer towers in core) for the past 3 wars With priority on upgrading the core defenses. Witch, Wiz, Giant in my cc.

War 1
AD 555, AT 8888
Attack 1: TH8 lv2 mass drags, cc lv 3 drag - 1 star
Attack 2: TH8 Lv3 mass drags, cc lv6 loons - 1 star
Attack 3: TH9 dragloon with lv 3 drags, max loons, lv 4 drag in cc - 3 stars

War 2
AD 666, AT 8888
Attack 1: TH9 GiWizBarch, BK 10, AQ 10 - 0 stars
Attack 2: TH8 lv3 mass drags, cc lv6 loons - 1 star
Attack 3: TH8 lv3 mass hogs, lv3 heals - 0 star (this surprised me the most)
Attack 4: TH8 lv3 dragloon (813, lv5 loons, lv6 cc loons) - 1 star

War 3
AD 666, AT 9999
Attack 1: TH8 GoWiPe (lv2 golem, lv5 wiz, lv1 pekka, cc max wiz, bk lv10) - 3 stars

This was the attack to finally do me in. Golems deployed at 6 o'clock, followed by wiz, then pekkas and bk. Wallbreakers to penetrate, lv 3 rage dropped early, then 2 lv 4 heals to keep troops going.

Overall, this base has served me well especially against TH8 lv3 dragon based attacks. Hexxenhammer has a good point about ATs in the core (they're like TH8 Xbows). There were times when it looked like lv3 raged drags were about to burn down the town hall only to be taken down by combined firepower of AD/AT or be diverted to the cc and storages on both sides and taken down accordingly.

It also held up well against the few ground attacks. The 0 star mass hogs was a surprise given the almost obvious placement of GBs. They were killed mainly in the outer ring by traps and perimeter defense with archer support from the core.

The weakness to this layout would probably be a well-placed GoWiPe. The AT/AD core would fall fast once breached. With the exception of my lv6 wiz towers, my other defenses are still lacking - mortars lv5, cannons lv8, and teslas lv4. I'm currently getting the mortars and teslas upgraded and will continue to use this base for the next couple of wars and will see if it makes a difference.

Excellent job on an awesome base!

You are exactly right about GoWiPe being a weakness for this base. The good news is, most TH8 players haven't embraced GoWiPe attacking yet, so a vast majority of attacks will be Dragon, then Hog Rider, maybe even a Loonian every now and then. And if you do bait a TH9 into attacking you, that is a small triumph in itself for the war effort. The only time I've been three-starred is when a TH9 has both heroes at a 10+ level.

Regarding GoWiPe: The way the base is designed, the Golems are able to spread out and don't have a lot of walls/compartments between defenses to slow them down due to the way the anti-hog ring is setup. I've been fortunate enough to hold TH8/premie Th9 GoWipes to only 2 stars, but then again my defenses are maxed out.

The only TH8 bases very effective at defending GoWiPe are going to be those boxy, cramped bases that are extremely weak to hogs anyway, so for my money, this base defends extremely well against a majority of war attacks you will actually see.

[HexxenHammer]

My lvl 4 hogs and I would rek that base. I'm th8 and have lvl 4 heals. It's very simple to test for that double go and unleash he��

EDIT: even after the nerfs and gbs being 1.5 damage.

Good thing nobody else seems to be able to figure out how to approach it.



The anti-hog ring is setup so that even if they breach the core, they are going to be sucked back into the ring. And even if you trigger the obvious giant bombs, there are 6 spring traps that will take up to 18 hogs out of the battle. And while the hogs are hopping around the ring, they will be harassed by the BK in addition to skeleton traps. As you can see in the screen shot, my base was gutted but the TH is still standing.

[clashE3]

Im not liking the core ADs…to easy to dragoon
Looks pretty good anti hog though

[6mildollarman]

Im not liking the core ADs…to easy to dragoon
Looks pretty good anti hog though

Easy to dragoon IF they can get into the core, which is easier said than done. Especially with hexxenhammer's layout. So much DPS coming out of the core that dragons and loons get shot out of the sky.

[HexxenHammer]

Easy to dragoon IF they can get into the core, which is easier said than done. Especially with hexxenhammer's layout. So much DPS coming out of the core that dragons and loons get shot out of the sky.

The only times I have been three starred with an air raid is against two TH9 attacks. One guy had max loons, plus the extra camp space and spell.

Another used all Drags with a max loon in the CC. He had four spells and used three lightning to take out one AD and AT. Then he kept a heal for when his dragons made it near the core, barely squeaked out the victory.

Have yet to see a non-GoWiPe TH8 attack get more than one star on this base. It's pretty tough. Still haven't been three-starred by a TH8 either.

[5js]

Might be a good idea to put all your mortars in the core, will help against Barch attacks. Where you have them positioned now, it will funnel any kind of hog/giant/loon attack toward your core.

Thx HexxenHammer - I'm definitely not an expert on the AI yet. I do have a question though. I moved the mortars out of the core and the Wiz towers into the core as suggested by Bourbon. The balance seems to be better that way, however, I am concerned about the funneling you mention.

If I were to move the mortars back into the core - I would be just moving the wiz towers in their place. Wouldn't any kind of hog/giant/loon attack funneling toward the core be the same?

BTW - I'm using your version for my war base. Only one war so far.
First attack GoWiPe - 2 Golems/6 WB's/3 PEKKA's/14 Wizards/1 Dragon/1 Goblin/ Lvl 6 BK/1 heal/ 2rage - one star !
Second attack - 9 dragons/1 Lavahound/5 minions/1 balloon/Lvl 7 BK/Lvl 1 AQ/4 lightning - one star !

[HexxenHammer]

Your current setup will cause defense-targeting troop AI to hit your mortars and proceed to break through the wall into the core.

This is because the enemy troops will be closer to the core defenses [once they destroy any of the mortars] than the defensive ring around the base we want them to get trapped in.

This dilemma is why I put mortars in the core on the farming version, as there is no other satisfactory place to put them. They are more effective in the core to stop Barching due to their range and the fact that a centralized position nullifies their blind spot.

You might consider putting your wizard towers [or whatever defensive building] where you gold mines are located at the edge of the wall if nothing more than to preserve the integrity of the anti-giant/hog ring. It's not an ideal location for sure, but it does serve a purpose.

Just my two cents.

[5js]

Your current setup will cause defense-targeting troop AI to hit your mortars and proceed to break through the wall into the core. This is because the enemy troops will be closer to the core defenses [once they destroy any of the mortars] than the defensive ring around the base we want them to get trapped in.

Ahh- I think I understand. For example then - if something gets to the mortar - then the next closest defense is in the core - so defense targeting troops will be pulled into the core, whereas, if I were to swap the mortar with the gold mine at the bottom of my base and a defense targeting troop were at the mortar - the next closest defense would be the cannon or arch tower and they would go for that.

This dilemma is why I put mortars in the core on the farming version, as there is no other satisfactory place to put them. They are more effective in the core to stop Barching due to their range and the fact that a centralized position nullifies their blind spot. You might consider putting your wizard towers [or whatever defensive building] where you gold mines are located at the edge of the wall if nothing more than to preserve the integrity of the anti-giant/hog ring. It's not an ideal location for sure, but it does serve a purpose.Just my two cents.

Okay - is that because without any defense in that cell the hogs will not target and perhaps jump into the core?

Thanks for the feedback - still trying to understand the AI pathing a bit more :-)

[Rajag89]

Mimo, I used this edited version of th8 in my clan wars. Pretty reliable and always pushed opponents to use a th9 raid to three star

Howling Comando Version

4.jpg

Couldnt paste the original base as I am th9 now

[HexxenHammer]

HexenHammer: I can't thank you and the OP enough for this base. Most of my clan is TH8 and I got all of them to use this base, and now we're winning every war since the past few weeks - even though we all mostly use the same base, they know where the traps are - but still rarely see more than 2 stars at best.

Can you confirm the setting of skeleton traps for me? Should they be set to ground or air?

Thanks

Ground, always ground, for two reasons:

If skeletons are set to air, the dragons will barely flinch when they pop up. However, if the attacker deploys any ground troops [Barb King, stray archer in the CC] in a dragon raid to trigger the skelly trap, I've seen dragons go out of their way to chase skeletons down.

On a side note, I also recommend putting one witch in the CC for the same reason. Just this past war, I saw dragons approach from the northwest [side nearest town hall] and completely bypass the TH and go for the CC...where the witch and her skeletons were standing. This being an all-air raid, there was nothing for them to chase down, so they just stood outside the CC, but the dragons took the bait.

Secondly, ground skeletons will absolutely harass hog riders or any heroes that are deployed, and might even screw up a GoWiPe raid for the attacker. Ground is definitely the way to go.

Of course, if you want to mix things up, your clan mates could move around some of the traps a bit to throw off attackers, especially giant bomb placement.

Also, if you're looking for some war base variety, I would recommend the lower-level TH8 members to try out Ataraxia, as it can be difficult for the enemy to figure out how to approach it unless they are an experienced war clan.