Counter to turtling

[Alvendor]

I see almost no pure turtling strategies in the games I play, but I still share the worry that optimal strategies might be much more defensive than is used today. Some random thoughts:

There are several dynamics at work. The first one to attack has an advantage as he is the first to remove some of the opponents units. Another advantage is that the attacker can choose which part of the map to attack and concentrate his forces there. He can also choose at what time to attack and make sure he has enough wits. The attacker has an advantage in that he can threaten bonus squares/base while the defender generally can't. The defender has an advantage in that it is cheaper to fight closer to your own spawn point. Maps where the defenders advantage is bigger than the attackers will lead to these "boring" turtle strategies.

To threaten the bonus square is the natural response to a turtling opponent. If its fairly close to one of your spawning points (or you play as adorables) you can force him to attack you by getting a sniper in range of the bonus square. It might be enough to get in splash range with a bombshell four squares away.

I saw earlier people complaining about how to fight several shelled bombshells but I think that is the wrong question to ask. That's like asking how to counter mass carriers in Starcraft 1. The answer is you don't let your opponent get several carriers/bombshells. The weak point is just after the bombshell has moved into position and sieged up. The opponent has just spent 11 wits to create the bombshell, move it, siege, and move two other units in front of it to block you from attacking. If your are in a position so you can kill the bombshell with less than 11 wits you are trading favorably.

Finally, a preemptive an apology to the people I use to play with. I think I will try a couple of games with a lot of turtling just to see how it plays out