How do you counter a bombshell?

[Saren]

So I've been playing a lot lately, and I've come to hate the bombshell. How on earth do you fight that thing? Short of making your own bombshell and turning it into a turtleing war, which sounds very boring to me, I don't know how to get rid of the thing. I am running into them what seems like all the time.

For example, I have just started a game on Glitch, with the other person as player one. By turn 5 they already have a bombshell sitting there with a heavy next to it and a medic behind it that I don't know how to kill. This kind of game is not fun for me. How on earth do I counter it?

I'm in Gifted, if that makes any difference. I know that this question has been asked about Peekaboo, but I'm curious about Glitch or just more general strategies.

[CombatEX]

How you counter a bombshell will vary a lot depending on the situation and what team you are. You can look at some replays in the Super-Titan replay thread to get some ideas though. I didn't look too long but here's one on Glitch http://osn.codepenguin.com/replays/view/...20YrcVlDA#

Turn 27 is where the Adorables player breaks the bombshell.

[Da Wizerd]

At this point, you can try to get a sniper around the side, to poke at him from across the gap, maybe harass his wit space.

If you see you're against scallies on glitch, it's imperative that you get vision and boosted units up against the center pathway ASAP. If they pull a quick bombshell, it's usually pretty easy to see it coming and they often won't have had enough resources to protect it properly.

outwitters://viewgame?id=ag5vdXR3aXR0ZXJzZ2FtZXIRCxIIR2FtZVJvb20YiMewAQw

Here is an example where I saw one coming but didn't pressure correctly

outwitters://viewgame?id=ag5vdXR3aXR0ZXJzZ2FtZXIRCxIIR2FtZVJvb20Yrr6mAQw

What I should have done on turn 4 is pushed my heavy up one so he could attack the middle on my next turn, along with my two soldiers, killing his heavy and getting to the bombshell. I would have suffered some damage, but his protective wall would have been demolished, at least gaining me some time.

[pookywb]

(10-02-2012 01:41 PM)CombatEX Wrote:  How you counter a bombshell will vary a lot depending on the situation and what team you are. You can look at some replays in the Super-Titan replay thread to get some ideas though. I didn't look too long but here's one on Glitch http://osn.codepenguin.com/replays/view/...20YrcVlDA#

Turn 27 is where the Adorables player breaks the bombshell.

Calmon always amazes me how he is able to practically throw away his Mobis and still come out on top. I don't really get the math of how that works.

He does have some BRILLIANT baiting strategies though. For an example, turn 39 is the setup, turn 41 the reaping.

[worldfamous]

(10-02-2012 03:01 PM)pookywb Wrote:  

(10-02-2012 01:41 PM)CombatEX Wrote:  How you counter a bombshell will vary a lot depending on the situation and what team you are. You can look at some replays in the Super-Titan replay thread to get some ideas though. I didn't look too long but here's one on Glitch http://osn.codepenguin.com/replays/view/...20YrcVlDA#

Turn 27 is where the Adorables player breaks the bombshell.

Calmon always amazes me how he is able to practically throw away his Mobis and still come out on top. I don't really get the math of how that works.

He does have some BRILLIANT baiting strategies though. For an example, turn 39 is the setup, turn 41 the reaping.

I'm not seeing the baiting strategy. It looked to me like he was just out to kill the sniper. There were no other units left to kill.

Edit: I see what you mean. Knowing his sniper is dead, he moves it one space to the left, preserving his wit space, and drawing the soldier to within sniper range at spawn. I guess I just saw that as more of a necessity than a bait tactic. I think of baiting requiring a sacrifice and his sniper was dead no matter what. Very smart move none the less.

[pookywb]

True.

[Emuchu]

Calmon! makes confusing-looking moves all the time, but not without purpose. My favorite match of his has to be this one against Alvendor on Sharkfood, where he storms the spawn and breaks through a double-Bombshell blockade twice, while sacrificing Mobi like 3 times and still keeping enough units on the field to maintain offensive pressure the entire game even after Alvendor destroys his invasion forces. Give it a watch:

Easy CodePenguin Link!

Each Mobi-kamikaze had purpose, whether to directly attack a blockade, else to harass the spawn and force Alvendor to waste wits moving his Bombshells around. You have to keep the math in mind: it costs 3 Wits to move Mobi, drop a Sniper, and fire, while it costs 3 Wits to Unshell, Move, and Re-Shell a Bombshell, who is still unable to fire until next turn. Sure, Adorables are toast if a Scallywags team has the time to set up a double-Soldier wall, but the goal of Adorables is not to let that happen.

Oh, and as for directly going after a Bombshell, you'll notice that Calmon! always keeps a boosted Runner sitting somewhere nearby. Not only is it good to maintain vision as Adorables, but a Mobi-Sniper + a waiting Runner is a great tool for opportunistic attacks on an exposed Bombshell. He seems to be playing all over the board all the time, which is something I'd love to learn.