Attacking and defending: when to push and when to reinforce

Read the island panel first

Every island shows how many troops are there, who holds it, and how many troops it gains per second. Those numbers are all you need to decide whether an attack will succeed. Send fewer troops than the defenders have and the attack fails; send far more than you need and you leave your own islands thin.

Remember that the defender keeps growing while your troops are travelling. A rival island with 20 troops when you launch may have more when you arrive, so attack with a margin, not an exact count.

Why reinforcing is often safer

Moving troops toward an island you already own reinforces it. Reinforcing is often safer than opening a new front: the troops arrive somewhere you control and cannot be lost in a failed attack. When a rival is closing in on one of your islands, reinforcing it is usually better than a counter-attack elsewhere.

Reinforcement is also how you prepare an attack. Gather troops on the island closest to your target, then send them together, instead of trickling small groups across the map that a defender can beat one at a time.

Use the links between islands

Forces move faster between connected islands, so a chain of islands you hold along a route speeds up both reinforcements and attacks further down the line. Claiming the islands along a route to a rival is often worth more than a direct attack on a distant one.

The same is true for your opponents. If a rival holds a chain toward your base, expect their attacks to arrive quickly, and keep a reserve at the island they are heading for.

Splitting forces without overextending

You can press several islands at once by splitting your forces. The risk is overextension: the more fronts you open, the thinner each one is, and a rival who spots a weak island can take it with a modest army.

A good rule is to split only when the targets are weak enough that each part of your army wins comfortably, and to keep a reserve on your most valuable islands. If you notice yourself losing islands faster than you claim them, stop attacking and consolidate.

Winning the match

You win by wiping out every rival army and occupying all islands. If time runs out first, the match ends after about 13 minutes at most, so a slow, safe plan can lose to a faster one. Balance the two: be safe enough that you do not lose islands, and aggressive enough that you finish.