Fighting the Bombshell matchup

[blckace]

I play exclusively feedback just because I find them way more fun than scallywags not because they win more games
anyway here are some random and inconsistent ramblings, I wanted to write a more organized post but thought I'd hold off until the next update because it might change a lot of things
most games as p1 even against scallywags should be easy, I don't know if it's the fta or just the fact that bombshell needs setting up which means they are useless for 1 turn so you'll have the first attack and the better position
as for playing p2 here's where real skill comes in, the hardest maps are the ones where you can't maneuver around the bombshell, like peekabo and sharkfood island those are a nightmare, if you want to win you have to think twice about every move and it would be safe to assume a bombshell is going to be already set up ready to attack, don't make a scrambler just for the sake of making a special unit, it's 7 wits wasted, make a small army with a good mix of units a sniper is invaluable at the right time. why? because some players like to double layer around the bombshell so you can't even scramble the soldier adjacent to the bombshell to kill it, if he's using a single layer by all means go for it you'll come out on top in wit and unit count even if he destroys you and your scrambler he won't have enough units to push for the kill and you can rebuild your army. so what to do on large maps when your opponent is making a double layer? if he doesn't push quick enough, you will have the upper hand, don't let anyone tell you otherwise 2 or three scramblers is a big deal specially that you can take out his buffed units in one hit, but make sure you have a lot of wits saved up so you can use the scrambled units before they get killed when you do that correctly even if you don't kill the bombshell you'll be ahead in unit count and your scramblers will be saved for another turn. personally, I made strategies for every map so I know when I can use a scrambler and when I shouldn't bother. general rules, scouts are really good for feedback specially on big maps they're cheaper consider them more often, if they are in no risk of getting killed by soldiers buff them, they can take a base down from 3 to 0 if there are gaps in the defense. No matter who you are playing against will be scared of the scrambler if they don't know where you are hiding it, this works well on larger maps where you have a lot of hiding places, gives people nightmares. if you scramble a heavy it's better to heal it than heal the scrambler 5>2. sometimes I use buffed heavies for barriers just because they're much harder to take out than soldiers. don't buff all your soldiers it might be good for scallywags but it's not for feedback, unless you are planning on turtling. sometimes there's no need to buff the scrambler specially since you know he's going to die. if you don't want to sacrifice your scrambler don't put him in the face of the bombshell that's by positioning him in the area far away from the bombshell then he would need to spawn a new bombshell or move his current one in both cases, it would cost him more wits than you. playing a scrambler is a lot like mobi it's about finding gaps in the defense. In practice, to kill a single bombshell that isn't defended well usually costs about 9 wits. One last thing, you don't have to kill the bombshell in a lot of games players build their defense around the bombshell when the base is completely exposed or badly defended, so go for that.
I hope this helps

[Thrutchy]

Many times, a bombshell is placed next to a barrier for protection. But you can use the barrier to you advantage by putting 1 or 2 soldiers on the other side such that the bombshell doesn't have a direct line of sight (but still can give splash damage). I recently won against scallywags with feedback on long 9 using this technique. He had 2 bombshells and a sniper clustered where the sniper starts. The 2nd one he brought out that was a hex closer was easier to kill. The other one took me a while. I never spawned a scrambler. Playing feedback against bombshells did seem frustrating though. I'll post a replay later.

Here's it is: 2 bombshells on long9

[aaronINdayton]

Post screenshot/replays for more in-depth BS advice. My question to everyone is, what do Scallywags do against the BS?

[Gf!sh]

I think the easy, but incorrect answer is to build one themselfes...

[schelnig]

I registered for this forum for the express purpose of finding out how to defeat bombshells. I am very new to this game, and think it is one of the best games ever. But BS are a huge pain.

Nobody really has a fool proof method to stop the BS - especially if they root themselves behind a barrier. The only thing I know for sure is that you can identify - relatively quickly - if you are playing against scallywags. Given that, the best way, it seems, to defeat Scallywags would be to keep your opponent from saving the wits needed to spawn a bombshell. If you can keep your opponent on the defensive, and force him/her to spend the majority of their wits, you can keep them from spawning a BS. It seems as if that would be the best. It sure as heck beats letting your opponent get entrenched, and then trying to dig them out.

Thoughts?

[Sasquatch]

^thats probably the best way to avoid a bs altogether, but outwitters is always harder on the attacking team, so by doing that, you are still making life hard on yourself

[Admiral 77]

(11-07-2012 09:14 AM)schelnig Wrote:  the best way, it seems, to defeat Scallywags would be to keep your opponent from saving the wits needed to spawn a bombshell.

Agreed. The best way to combat any super unit is to avoid turtling so that they cannot be built.

[Thrutchy]

I edited the above post with a replay.

Another approach is to just attack somewhere else. Here is a sweetie plains game where with a bombshell near his middle spawn. I attacked the side bonus wit. I eventually killed the bombshell but it wasn't that important for the win.

Replay

[garcia1000]

You can think of the Bombshell as like a timer. You get X amount of turns to win before the Bombshell clock ticks over and you are doomed. You can increase X by putting pressure on the Scallywags player. On large maps the timer is twice as long. That's how to think about it.

[joelduque]

If P1 decides to turtle, it would almost certainly stay that way especially in small maps. The main weaknesses I see with turtling is that it leaves the player wit and unit depleted. BSs on opposite sides of the field creates a very large "no man's zone".