Precision Hogging

[Strone: This is a rough translation of a post in Chinese forum. Those of you with proficiency in Chinese can read it here http://coc.5253.com/1510/308584762666.html.]

Foreword

This is a strategy article on (2 golem) precision hogging.

History as I know it

Around beginning of 2015, renowned CoCer madfrog said “maximize of attack efficiency” is key to success of attacking in CoC. Some TH9 players realized that using Giants/Barbs to tank can reduce the damage hog groups take, and maximize their output. This method has gain popularity in CC drawing, and early destroy of singular defenses. This is often seen in preparation phase of early 1-golem hogging and mixed Gowiwi. And using a Giant and several hogs to destroy an area of defense can be regarded as early form of precision hogging.

[Caption: Giant with 5 unit spacing + 20 unit spacing of balloon causes much more damage than 25 unit spacing of balloons.]

With the increase of damage hogs receiving from giant bombs. The original hogging with mass deploying of hogs no longer works. To counter double giant bombs, deploy hogs separately, and let most hogs survive, is a “maximize of attack efficiency” using at a global scale. And precision hogging is upon us.

How it works

After queen and CC is dealt with, divide enemy bases into several clusters. Within each cluster use tank + hogs. The way is to use 1 giant and 4-5 hogs to destroy each defense cluster. Because most of the time the hogs will not converge (except at the end, which will be discussed later), the threat of giant bombs is reduced. About how to divide bases into clusters. I do it based on the outer defenses.

[Caption: These are samples of bases that can be precision hogged. Only look at the Outmost defenses. Yellow dots are point defenses. Blue dots are wiz towers.[

 

Bases it works on

From above analysis we found that precision hogging works on bases that divided into zones (flower petals). And maybe not so well on bases shape like a dumbbell.

Base on this, if you see bases with the following, 3-star will be easier.

·         Point defense (archer tower/cannon) are toward outside (Giant+hog combination offers more value)

·         Kill squad’s path cover more empty spaces (potential giant bombs and teslas are cleared by kill squad)

·         Kill squad’s path lead King or Golem to a Xbow. (See skills)

·         Sunflower shape (360 symmetry), open core. (Easy to hog, King and Golem can output more)

If you see bases with the following, 3-star will be more difficult:

·         Defenses (especially point defenses) are towards inside and Giant can not attract their attention easily.

·         4 teslas or 4 wiz towers are highly concentrated (large hog casualties locally)

·         Targetted [Defense-Spring Trap-Defense-Spring Trap] chain close to the outside. (Cause disruption to hog army right after they get into the base)

 Like in base below, we have space between defenses and extra wall unit. We can almost be certain there are springing traps there. Hogs will be sprung randomly and hard to control the outcome.

 

 

Steps

Army: My army is almost fixed, many cases it does not vary with bases. I may make changes but usually it is <10 army spaces.

2 Golem (one in CC), 5-6 wiz, 1 witch, 3-4 giants, 26 hogs, 3 wallbreakers, rest archer/barbs, 1 Jump/2 Heal/1 Rage/1 Poison

·         2 Golem/wiz clean outside –

·         Witch behind for better stability –

·         wall breakers break walls –

·         King/Queen/wiz with Jump/Rage –

·         Poison CC –

·         Clockwise or counter-clockwise precision hogging with 1 giant with several hogs, 2-3 hogs for each outer defense –

·         Heal at wiz tower or potential/known giant bombs –

·         archer/barbs for cleanup

[Here an online video is attached. You can search for "Precision Hogging" or "Surgical Hogging" on Youtube for examples.]

Skills (Details)

The following are details (devils are in the details).

Follow the steps and it seems fairly simple, but in reality it is sometime hard to guarantee success. Some player get 3 stars but do not know why it worked some times and not others. Here is my take on the finer points of precision hogging:

1.       Foreplay – Kill squad of Golems/Heros to clean outside, kill CC and queen.

·         Golems need to be separated. It should be as far as possible, but also be able to move once the wall breakers break walls. You do not want them to continue hitting walls once the wall is broken. Separating golems means that you cover for wizards so that they continue to live and contribute to cleanup.

·        Do not send golems for the wall you want to wall break! Do not send golems for the wall you want to wall break! Do not send golems for the wall you want to wall break! Wiz tower, xbow and mortar 1-hit wall breakers. For high level TH9 play, failed wall break means failed attack. Other 2 Golem foreplay, such as jumping Valkyries, Giant/Wiz 2 star TH10 all follow this rule.

 

·         Queen can be put down early, King need to be hold until the outside is clear, otherwise he may wander off. The position and timing of the 2 heros shows the experience of the player.

·         Why I like rage instead of heal for kill squad? I am not so sure. Experts in our clan generally find it easier to kill CC with rage. If you have confidence killing CC, Poison can be saved later for skeletons (not easy to use and often forget).

·         (This is advanced stuff) Some may wonder why I keep a witch. Today the common CC is dragon/hound/balloons. The hard thing to deal with is dragon/balloons. With a good base, the side with the queen often have high HP buildings. While Queen and wiz are still outside, King and golem already go in for the queen. At this time golem and King are not protected and do not move fast. They are susceptible to attacks from dragon and balloons. This is a high risk scenario. Many times a level 30 King can see red in 1 sec. I have never see this after bringing the witch. The balloon attacks are slow and attracted to skeletons that are fast moving. Another advantage is skeletons help trigger giant bombs on the side.

·         (This is advanced stuff) For direction of killing the queen, I have several rules

o   Path to the queen have more empty spaces

o   Path to the queen can reach a Xbow with a Jump

o   Jump can cover more compartments.

Many in my clan do not follow 2 and 3. Most people choose the incision point to be the one facing the queen, then choose the wall breaking point. (I don't)

I often choose the xbow closest to the queen. An ignored xbow is the biggest threat to hogs.

For 3, people think the obvious reason for Jump to cover more compartment is better value and destroy more buildings. I think the better reason is King and Golems can keep moving (balloons can not attack them effectively). Even wiz may miss a moving target.

 

2.       Precision Hogging – the busy part. Some people say you need fast hand. Actually you need better overall view, the deployment is not as critical as lavaloonian.

·         Every defense cluster: deplay a giant. Usually there are not more than 3 of these clusters. Wait till the giants attracked attention of defenses before deploying hogs.

·         2-3 hogs for each outer defense. If tesla jumps out, add 2 hogs

·         Usually after 2 armies of giant+hogs, you need to go back and add heal, where the first army is running towards the second army. It is best to deploy it to cover empty spaces and wiz towers.

·         The second heal is kept until the hogs converge at the end. I said before this is the only time hogs converge. It is easy for wiz tower to damage them in a few seconds. And there maybe double giant bombs in the last few empty spaces. And to counter this I have a very good idea –

[Precision Hogging can be clockwise or counter clockwise, when you choose, choose the one where hogs converge to a point where there are few of empty spaces, see below]

 

 

 Let's look at an example:

 

3.       Cleanup -- 100% or 99%

Time management is very important and many cases the attack will last till the last seconds.
Leave some wiz or archer/barbs for cleanup. Do not throw everything into the kill squad. I bring 5-6 wiz, and only 4 is enough for the kill squad (high level heroes). Add them opposite to where hogs and queen end up are. This will help cleanup in case where not many hogs survives.

In many cases high level heroes will survive till the end. King will go red when he get close to enemy queen. The queen usually go red during hogging. Pay attention and remember to open their abilities.