Just some catching up..

Hey All...
I know it's been forever since I've written. Sorry, life get's VERY busy around here.

First and foremost...Hab and I will be on vacation for the next 10 days or so. We'll be placing BD (big daddy) in charge while we're gone. I'll probably move over to MC3, and Hab is going to try to stay in MC1 for the next war.

Secondly, the next war starts at the end of this week (7/18). In case you haven't figured this out, we fight every two weeks...right before league resets.

I know there's been some flux in players coming and going. This is totally normal. We go through ebbs and flows. And it's good to have some down time to touch base with everyone in the clan.

Hope you are all doing well and enjoying your summer.

-Thes

Latest Update Information....

In case everyone was wondering.... here is the link to the latest update information. Please read before the next war....

http://www.gamezone.com/news/2014/07/03/clash-of-clans-hero-update-released-full-patch-notes-detailed

We will be having a discussion on how best to fight in the next war...now that we can't lure the BarbKing anymore. Le sigh.....


-Thes

Growing Pains and Joys

First of all, hello! Sorry it's been a while. Life has been crazy around the McRuger household. I'd like to thank BigDaddy for being such an awesome leader while Hab was away. You rock BD!!

In case you haven't noticed, our Clan Family has been growing quite big. We recently absorbed the remnants of a clan that was failing and have also had quite a few great recruits.

The Main Clan (MC1) is now almost full, and McRuger2 is nearing its limits. This all is wonderful, but also means we need to reorganize a bit.

Basically, MC1 and MC2 will remain the same. MC1 will fight once every league season and MC2 will be at near-constant war. But, we need to open up some space in MC1 to make moving between the clans easier. And we need some co-leads in MC2 (two to four total) who will stay in that clan to help organize.

We are going to require that all co-leads join our Facebook group, just to keep communication simple (https://www.facebook.com/groups/597856176933410/). Joining that group is optional for everyone else, but will be mandatory for co-leads.

This merge will also mean that MC1 will not be able to hold everyone for the "All Clan War" every league season. We have not yet figured out how to best manage that.

So, here's what we'd like you to do....

1. Please, no Alt accounts in MC1 at any time. 
2. If you're interested in being a more permanent co-lead in MC2, please join the Facebook page and please talk to Hab or BD. 
3. Let's keep bouncing around to a minimum for a while. Bouncing from MC1 to MC2 and back makes things complicated. 
4. Please don't recruit for MC1 as we work all this stuff out. 
5. Our requirements for staying in MC1 will be a bit more rigorous. If you're going to stay in the main clan, we'd like you to be actually active. That means you should be donating well above 200 every league season. And we'd also like to see you active on chat. 
6. Please be welcoming to our new clan members, point them to this blog to read the rules, and thank you for being patient as we work through this transition!!

So, what's up with our three clans...

Hey All!!!

So, clearly, Clan Wars have changed a few things. We now have THREE clans! Pause to insert shocked face!!

Clan McRuger (Main Clan): This is the main clan, the one we all know and love. Great chats, lots of donations, and the occasional "fishing expedition". In this clan, a war will be declared every TWO WEEKS...right before league resets. So, the Friday night before league reset, we will go to war. We ask that anyone who doesn't want to participate in Clan Wars for that cycle, please move to Clan McRuger 3. We will announce when war has been declared, so if anyone wants to come and watch the war or do scouting for us, can come back. Leader: Hab.

Clan McRuger2 (War Clan): This is a "Play House" for those who want to practice fighting in a war. Currently, this clan has been in near-constant Wars. There's lots of opportunities to try something new or learn about base-redesign. We will announce the Main Clan War in plenty of time for those who want to re-join the main clan for the "big" war. This clan is active and is not the place to sit out a war. Leader: Hab's Alt.

Clan McRuger3: The "Vacation Home" for players who are going to be on vacation, busy with work/school, or who just need a break from clan for a while. Updates will be posted in chat or via clan message. This is a relatively inactive clan and the perfect place to sit out a war or just take a break. Leader: Leader: Thesaurus's Alt (Rain).

******
All that being said...the next clan war will start on Friday May 9th...so get ready!

Clan Wars

Hello Clan...

If you read nothing else, read (and FOLLOW) the check lists below. But, if you have the time, please read Hab's post on Clan Wars.

If you're not planning on participating, please move to McRuger 2, before war is declared. This is very important!!!!!

Basic Check list:

Prep Day
-Set your request message in the war screen.
-If you've got high level troops, do some donating.
-If you don't have high level troops, don't donate.
-Before prep day ends, move your town hall inside and setup a strong defense.

Attack Day
-No matter what, attack twice. Everyone should fight!
-For your first attack, pick a base you KNOW you can 3 star.
-Scout that base well and build a strong army and spell set.
-Wipe it out for 3 stars
-The higher your Level, the longer you should wait to attack so you can see where the bases we're struggling with are.
-On your second attack, look for the easy stars. Better to pick up one more easy star, than pushing yourself and only getting one star on a high level base.
-If you have questions about who you should attack, ask Hab or BD. 

Now that we have that out of the way, let's talk about specifics. First off, lets get clear on the basics of a clan war. It takes place over 2 days 48 hours, each with their own role.

Day 1: Preparation Day
Prep day is about two things- scoping out the other side and getting donations. I'll talk more about donations in it's own section, but please note that these are the ONLY clan troops you'll get during the attack day. However, they'll always be present for both of your attacks and any base defenses.

Second thing is to get your base setup for attacks. Move your town hall inside your defenses, and basically set up your base as if you were trophy pushing.

Day 2: Battle Day
It's attack time!! You'll get two attacks against two different bases. Make those attacks count. Build the strongest army you can, and plan on using every spell you've got. However, the real key is picking the right person to attack. The game will "recommend" a base for you to attack, but that's probably a bad idea. That base is basically who you are equal to in the game, and there is a good chance that you won't be able to 3 star. Speaking of which...

Stars, Stars, Stars...
Clan war is ALL about getting stars. The worst thing you can do is lose an attack entirely, but getting just one star is often almost as bad. The reason is that everyone is going to end up moving down from their recommended base, which means a 1 star attack is meaningless when a higher level player shows up and wipes the base out for 3 stars. Your attack would have been better used picking up an easy 3rd star from a lower lvl base that had already been 1 or 2 star'd.

That leads to...

Hab's Theory of How Attack Day Ought to Go:
Above all, everyone needs to use both attacks. If your schedule means that you can only attack at a particular time, then attack then. Everyone attacking is more important than anything else.

With that out of the way, here is how attack day ought to go:

-Lower Level players should attack first. For your first attack, pick someone you KNOW you can get 3 stars on.  Don't be greedy. If this means fighting someone at a lower level than you, that's just fine. The goal here is to wipe out as many bases as possible as early as possible, so that the higher level players can help later on.

-Wait as long as you can for your second attack. The goal here is to give everyone a chance for one fight and to see how the war flows.

-Higher level players should wait to attack as LONG as possible. By waiting, they get the chance to find out where the gaps are and drop down to wipe those bases out.

-Get all the information you can before you attack. If the base has been attacked before, watch the replay. If that person has attacked someone, watch that attack. What's in their clan castle? Are you sure you've built the best army to attack that base?

-Don't be a hero on your second attack. It's very likely that a small number of bases will show up in the middle with 3 stars for the taking. Those bases are traps. Watch the attacks that have failed, and if you're SURE you can wipe the base out then go for it. But it's likely that you'd be better off not doing that...

-With your second attack, look for places you can cleanup. At the end of our war, a large number of bases at the bottom of the lists were only 2 star'd. Picking up those easy stars is often better than losing a battle entirely.

On Donations:
-Donations are ONLY used for defense.  You can request specific troops, but make good choices.  Above all, pick troops that can defend against air.  Wizards and Archers are the best general choice though Dragons and Witches can also work well.  Hogs, Pekka, and any other ground only unit are terrible ones.  Don't request them, don't donate them.

-As a rule of thumb, donate below you in the war list, not above unless you're donating very high level units. Never donate something someone doesn't want. If you can't donate due to low troops, that's just fine. Basically, we want everyone to have the highly level troops our clan has to offer.

-If you're at the bottom of the clan levels, don't donate at all. Everyone wants to contribute, but this is a place where the top of the clan can help a lot more than the bottom.

Just some news and reminders...

Hi Fellow Clashers...

First of all, it's nice for me (Thes) to be playing again. While I am not as active as I used to be, I'm trying to check in occasionally...ok, daily.

We all know that Clan Wars is coming soon. I hope everyone is using the cheap boosting to upgrade weapons and defense!

We have some new people who have joined us. It make it easier for you to find some important posts...I'm linking to them here. Just click and read our rules and such...

Clan Rules

Rule Clarifications

When we "Fish"...what does that mean? 

I hope everyone has a great day!!!

Contest Updates....

So, Hab and I have decided to add one more contests to this league season...in addition to the current 4 contests. Because we're just generous and fun-loving like that.

Highest Request Award: $5. To the person who requests the most over this league season!

Remember, we ask you to please be good sportsman and enjoy this time. This is only for two weeks, but if things get out of hand...we will cancel the contests! Yes, you may get a lot of giants, dragons, healers, and PEKKAs....I hope you will handle that with grace. And please honor reasonable troop requests!!