Help: tactics vs bombshells on Peekaboo?

[swimj]

Nope, even among Super Titans, dealing with the bombshell on peekabo is always difficult.

1) Play Adorables-Mobi is very useful for killing a shell without needing to build up a huge attack. If there is one exposed side, a runner + mobi sniper can get a 4 hp shell. Furthermore, mobi can help you sneak around the shell and often destroy the base without having to fight a big army.

2) You say people are putting out shells on their 2nd/3rd turns. Most likely, they will place this shell within 3 steps of the spawn, as they will feel the need to make soldiers for a few more turns to guard the shell. Often this means whatever unit is on the wit space is isolated. Using a mobi to attack this lone unit after 5-6 turns is often a good way to disrupt your opponent, and can give an opportunity to hit the base.

What if your opponent puts their early shell by the wit space? Well then the shell will be less defended because its guarding units must move twice to be in position. So you should be able to take out the shell if that's the case.

3) Save up wits. Because of the cost of the shell, there will be stretches when your opponent will only have 6-7 wits to use (usually right after spawning a shell), which are good opportunities to attack. Their response will be limited because of wits. If you, on the other hand, save to 13-15 wits, then you could deal a big blow in a single turn. Take advantage of any openings your opponent leaves you. With the mobi, 2-3 open hexes is enough to get the base.

Ok, enough talk. Here is a super titan replay demonstrating what I said above.
Peekabo-Dealing with shells

Even though my initial attack on turn 12 failed, it did shake things up a bit, which is important against a turtle-minded opponent. Further, my opponent was a very good player so had the adequate defenses to force me back. However, against lesser skilled players, an attack like that certainly has a chance of going all the way.

Turn 26-A very common placement of shells is behind the soldier I attacked, because it basically covers the left side of the map. So if you are going to initiate an attack, that is a good place to start. It worked for me there.

Basically, my thinking as I launched my final attack was to force him to move his units around so that some space would open up. I had saved something like 13-15 wits before I began. Sure enough, an opening became available, I had just enough wits stored up (8) to finish him off in one turn.