Field Combat & Defense

Scenario-by-scenario tactics for defending an alliance under attack.

Compiled by BOURREAU · Recommended reading for all members. Mandatory for R3+.

A note on how to use this guide

Two kinds of information appear in this guide, and it matters which is which:

Confirmed mechanics: how tanks, hospitals, walls, shields and reinforcement actually work in the game. These are stated plainly.
Tactical judgment: recommended plays built on those mechanics (target order, when to disengage, how to read bait). These are sound combat logic, but they are strategy calls, not hard-coded game rules. A smart opponent can and will do the unexpected, so use judgment in the moment, not blind rule-following.

Important: where a tactic depends on reading an opponent’s intent (like spotting a decoy), no guide can promise certainty. It lowers your risk; it doesn’t remove it. Scout when you can, and treat every tactic here as a strong default, not an unbreakable law.

1. Core mechanics you need first

1.1 Tanks vs. bases: what’s actually different

A tank is the vehicle attached to a march or formation out on the map. It fights on its own stats, in the open, with nothing behind it. A base (HQ and the structures around it) can be reinforced: allies stack extra troops into the defense, and a wall adds a durability layer that has to be worn down before the base itself takes damage. That is why tanks and bases are treated differently:

A tank in the field is a standalone fight. Beat its stats and it’s dead. Nothing reinforces it.
A reinforced base is a stacked fight. You’re fighting the defender’s troops, every ally who piled in, and the wall’s durability all at once. Under-strength attacks on a reinforced base just give the defender free kills and reveal your strength for nothing.

Why it matters: this is why hitting tanks while a base is being reinforced is the efficient play. You take real damage off the enemy’s total force without walking into a stacked defense.

1.2 Wounded vs. dead: what actually kills troops

Losing a fight wounds troops; it doesn’t erase them. Wounded troops go to the Emergency Hospital and heal over time, fully recoverable. Troops only die permanently when there’s no hospital space left to catch them, or when the losses in a single event are more than your hospital tier can hold at once.

Hospital capacity is a combat stat, not just a base-building checkbox. Two alliances with the same troop counts can have very different real staying power if one has under-built hospitals.
Practical rule: never let your hospital sit near full before a fight you can see coming (SvS Saturday, Canyon Clash, a known incoming rally). Clear it out and heal in batches beforehand.

1.3 Walls, wall heroes and garrisoned defense

City Walls have their own durability that absorbs damage during a siege before troops start taking losses. Walls protect troops indirectly; they don’t replace hospital capacity.
Wall heroes: you can assign specific heroes to defend the City Wall. Most casual players never touch this setting. Check it and assign your best defensive hero, not just whichever hero is highest level.
Reinforcing an ally’s base adds your troops to their defense. Rotate reinforcements in and out rather than leaving one group in place; fresh rotations stop defenders bleeding down over a long siege.

1.4 Shields

A shield (sometimes called a Peace Shield) blocks player-vs-player attacks on your base while it lasts. It does not protect a tank you’ve sent out marching. In some events, notably PvE sieges like Zombie Siege, shields do not block the event’s own attackers. Check each event’s rules rather than assuming a shield protects you from everything.
A shielded target cannot be damaged, full stop. This is the reason behind the decoy warning in Section 3.

2. Target discipline against enemy tanks

Scenario

An enemy alliance has tanks out in the field, reinforcing each other’s bases.

Engage the tanks, not the bases. The bases are stacked with reinforcements and wall durability, so attacking them under-strength just burns your troops. Tanks are standalone fights with nothing behind them, and killing a tank also strips part of that enemy’s strength for their next move.

Target order within a group of tanks

Your two strongest players online focus the first tank only. Putting your hardest hitters on one target kills it fastest with the least wasted damage. Once a tank is dead, any extra damage that turn is wasted, so speed matters more than spreading out.
Everyone else hits the remaining tanks at the same time, without waiting for the first kill. Hitting them all at once stops the enemy from regrouping, pulling back the weaker ones, or reinforcing whichever tank you’re about to hit next.
Avoid the whole group piling onto one tank at a time. It’s slower overall and gives the enemy’s other tanks a full extra window to react, retreat or call for help.

Scenario

All of the enemy’s tanks have been destroyed.

Pivot to their base now. With no tanks left in the field, there’s no active threat pulling your attention elsewhere, and the enemy has nothing left to counter-rally with straight away. This is the cleanest window you’ll get. Take it promptly, because the enemy starts rebuilding tanks the moment the fight ends.

Scenario

The enemy’s tanks return to base before you’ve finished.

Stand down. Once tanks are back in their base, they’re covered by that base’s reinforcements and wall durability. You’re no longer fighting an exposed target; you’re fighting a stacked defense. Pushing on trades a good exchange for a bad one. Disengage, regroup and reassess rather than feeding troops into a defended position.

3. Defensive scenarios

Scenario

Your alliance is being probed or sieged and you want to stop the attack from landing.

Move tanks into a coordinated ring around the threatened position. Attacks generally need a clear path to their target. A tight, visible ring of your own tanks removes that clean angle and puts your force in position to counter straight away if the enemy commits anyway.

Just as important, a visibly organized defense tells the enemy this will be a costly, coordinated fight, not an easy hit. Most opportunistic attackers are looking for cheap, low-risk targets. Take that away and many of them simply move on.

Why it works: deterrence as much as mechanics. A scattered or absent defense invites a probe; a visible, organized one usually doesn’t. Coordination and visibility are doing real work here, not just raw tank count.

Scenario

A single shielded enemy tank is sitting in the open, seemingly undefended.

Do not commit your force to it. A shielded target can’t be damaged, so attacking it does nothing except pull your attention and your strongest players away from where they’re really needed. This is a known bait pattern: park something safe and tempting while the real move happens somewhere else. Always check shield status before committing, and if something looks too easy, assume it’s meant to.

Check the target’s shield or status indicator before any group commits.
If it’s shielded, assign one scout or low-value account to watch it, and keep everyone else on standby for the real threat.
Watch alliance chat and the map for a second, quieter movement elsewhere at the same time. That’s usually where the real attack is.

Scenario

An enemy sends a small, cheap probe before their main force arrives.

This is a split-rally or bait-and-switch: a low-cost attack meant to draw your strongest defenders in, so they’re already committed and exposed when the real, larger force lands. Before sending your top players at any single incoming attack, check whether it fits what you’d expect from that enemy. If it looks too small or too easy for their known strength, hold part of your force in reserve and watch for a second wave.

Scenario

Your alliance has just captured, or is holding, a contested city, turret or objective.

Assign a defender with strong defensive stats and defense-focused hero talents to that position. Don’t leave it to whoever happens to be nearby.
Rotate reinforcements rather than leaving one group in place for the whole fight. When one group needs to pull back and heal, have the next already on its way so the position is never left undefended.
An unheld objective is free for anyone to walk into. Capturing something is only half the job. Plan the defense before you plan the capture, not after.

Scenario

A member is thinking about a solo attack instead of waiting to coordinate.

Solo attacks on anything non-trivial usually waste troops that a coordinated group hit would have saved. You take the same risk with a fraction of the force, so the odds are worse and the losses are proportionally higher. Coordinate through alliance chat before committing troops to anything beyond a clearly weaker, confirmed-safe target.

Scenario

Your hospital is at or near capacity heading into a predictable fight (SvS Saturday, Canyon Clash, a known incoming siege).

Heal down your hospital in batches in the days before the event. See the batch-healing process in the alliance SOP for requesting Help efficiently.
Confirm your hospital tier can absorb the losses you’re likely to take. If it can’t, treat hospital capacity as the bottleneck to fix before the event, not during it.
During the fight, if losses are mounting and your hospital is filling up, that’s the signal to disengage and let it clear rather than pushing on and turning wounded troops into permanent deaths.

4. Quick reference: read the situation fast

Situation	Correct response
Enemy tanks reinforcing each other’s bases	Hit the tanks, not the bases. Bases are stacked; tanks aren’t.
All enemy tanks destroyed	Pivot to the base immediately. This window closes fast.
Enemy tanks returning to base	Stand down. They’re re-entering a defended position.
Multiple enemy tanks grouped together	2 strongest focus tank #1; everyone else hits the rest at the same time.
A single, isolated, shielded-looking easy target	Don’t commit. Check shield status and assume possible bait.
A small cheap probe attack lands first	Hold reserves. A bigger second wave may follow.
Your base or position is being circled or probed	Ring your own tanks around the threatened point. Deny the angle and show coordination.
Hospital near capacity before a known fight	Heal down in batches beforehand; disengage if it fills during the fight.
Holding a captured objective	Assign a dedicated defender and rotate reinforcements. Don’t leave it unattended.
Considering a solo hit	Coordinate through chat instead.

Read the field. Hit what’s exposed. Never chase what’s already gone home.