Ghost Hammer

Hopefully this will answer any questions about TT hammers. A ghost hammer is generally for skilled players. Not every "up and learning player" can wield one efficiently, they can, but the results are sometimes ugly, if done improperly. This is mostly a strategy guide, as training a hammer is not unknown to the world.

Concept:
A hammer of TTs with a TT hero. Lightning fast. Catapults, rams, chiefs, etc. not allowed. The point is to hit them so fast, they can't reinforce in time from many other villages. The goal is to hit a few hundred defensive troops out randomly or to hit a hammer at home.

Location:
You can train a ghost hammer in just about any type of village, it really depends on your preferences, and use of hammer. I think the new 7cropper would be an excellent choice, combining extra wheat with the unexpectedness of a non-cropper. A 6wheat would be nice for a very small ghost hammer, aimed at smaller players. If your looking to make a large ghost hammer, then a cropper is needed.

Expendable: A ghost hammer is expendable. They are quickly built and cheap. Don't hesitate to use it often, just don't kill your hero.

Number: A single ghost hammer is okay. Two ghost hammers is great. Three ghost hammers? SCARY. If you can support two or even three ghost hammers, I highly recommend doing so. Since they are hammers made up of THE most efficient raiders in the game (don't throw stats at me, If you disagree, PM and Ill prove it), they can easily be self sustaining. A ghost hammer(when not being used primarily, but raiding) can support itself 24/7 in lvl 20 stable after it reaches a certain size, so in theory, you can have multiple ghost hammers with no loss to your main hammer(s). If you can't do this, then I suggest you get a gaul friend or two and agree to all do it..or nobody do it. No going at this half cocked, or failure is sure to greet you. I will explain later on why more than one is better and needed.

Targets: The targets you hit with a Ghost hammer vary greatly from what you want to hit with a normal hammer. You want to hit villages that wont have many defenses. A TT hammer is extremely weak compared to a normal hammer. It is meant to take out pockets of defensive troops, not anvils. Target random villages you suspect to have defensive troops. Attacking clusters is risky, and can turn out bad. Figure up the time it would take that player to reinforce that village, and see if you can beat it. The less villages can reinforce there in time, the better. And the less infantry defenses that can get there, the better. Spears, legos, and phalanx can be mass produced and can really tear up TTs. Cavalry defense on the other hand is more expensive, takes longer, and has way lower overall numbers. Your better off facing only cavalry defenders.

Fakes: It is generally a good idea to send a 1 TT fake to other villages from that player, and to villages that are owned by his allies in the area. Time them to land at close to the same second, or as close as you can get. This reduces the chances of the person finding out which attacks are fake and dodging the real attack. Also, sending fakes from other villages to targets can add another factor in their decision on defending. Esp if fakes come from a hammer and/or mini-hammer villages. Whatever you do, do not put anything but TTs in the attack. This will take the whole element of surprise out, and you will meet with heavy defense.

NOTE: The following two topic are not to be confused with the previous topic. The following two are what to do when the GH is used in conjunction with a real hammer(s).

Knowing your enemy:Knowing your enemy is essential to defeating your enemy. Blacksmiths know armor. Gunsmiths know body armor. Anvil makers know hammers, and hammers know anvils. If you don't know your enemy, then you will fail. I can't spell out every nuance of defense, but I will outline what is essential to the next portion. There are two kinds of defense. Sniping and hammer breaking. A ghost hammer can do nothing about sniping, but can seriously weaken a stacked defense. Reinforcements can arrive hours before attacks land..esp if the attacks land at an early(or noon) morning hour(meaning reins would need to be sent in the middle of the night to arrive right before or to snipe attacks). People who can't send at the late hour will send their troops early, and send wheat. But any who can send at the late hour will. Mid distance reins are usually the ones sent to arrive early, as far reins can be sent during the day, and close reins can be sent in the morning. This creates a moment of stacked defense, but not a full anvil. This is what the Ghost hammer is made to do.

Advanced use: [cont. from above] You will want to hit the enemy target when they are in this time of weakened defense. If done incorrectly, you will lose your ghost hammer AND your hammer in one bad day. If you don't do this right, you give away the village being hit, and all forces will be stacked there. This is where multiple Ghost hammers(mentioned above) come in handy. This way you can attack multiple of the targeted villages at once, and not give away the real target(s). You will need to send your hammer in a specific time slot. Sending it to early or to late is death. Too early, and you lose the element of surprise. Too late, and you hit too many reins. Try to send it at a time where it will be on the road the longest without being noticed, and the least con be done about it. You can incredibly weaken an alliances overall defense. Granted this is a good way to lose all of your Ghost hammers, this is what they are intended to do. You will severely weaken an alliance's defenses in one blow. This is extremely useful in alliance war. Overall, you lose your ghost hammer, huge raiding potential, and alot of time. None of this matters. If you save 20 or 30% of your hammer, or even just get the cats and/or chiefs through, youve done what you intended to do. Remember, expendable. Ghost hammers are self sustaining and building, and dont tax your account to much. If you lose them, its extremely preferable to losing a hammer, or even part of it.

Blacksmith: By the time you start working on a Ghost hammer, you should be able to train TT's nearly, if not, 24/7. If that is the case, then upgrade in your blacksmith as often as you can, the only thing going against you is time. If you can't support training 24/7, then here is the most efficient time to upgrade:
Level...new attack value...Number of troops trained before upgrade
0......90.0
1......91.2.......151
2......92.5.......264
3......93.7...... 368
4......95.0...... 465
5......96.2...... 560
6......97.5...... 652
7......98.8...... 742
8.....100.1...... 831
9.....101.4...... 918
10....102.7...... 1005
11....104.0...... 1091
12....105.3...... 1177
13....106.7...... 1262
14....108.0...... 1346
15....109.4...... 1430
16....110.7...... 1515
17....112.1...... 1598
18....113.5...... 1683
19....114.9...... 1766
20....116.3...... 1849

When you reach the number of troops in the third column, it becomes more cost and time efficient to upgrade than train troops. After you start the upgrade, continue training until you reach the next number. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Trailing a hammer home: A good use for a Ghost hammer is to trail another hammer home. If a village is cleared that you own, or a friend owns, and the hammer survives, than a Ghost hammer is an excellent option to take out that hammer at home. Best if over 30 fields away, and tourney kicks in. The longer the hammer sender goes without seeing a counter attack coming in, the more likely he is to send reins(waiting for the counter) back home. A Ghost can be sent so late, that he wont be expecting it at all. Time it just right, and you can hit his hammer at home just a second after it arrives. Use a traveltime calculator to see when the attackers hammer will return home, then send your Ghost to hit at that village at roughly the second after it returns home.

When NOT to trail a hammer home:
Trailing home gaul hammers is not the best idea, especially if it has alot of haeds. That in conjunction with the fact that gauls like to cluster up a little, means that phalanx and other haeds will never be far off. They will eat your TTs up. The best way to take out any gaul defenses is with a real hammer. Simple as that. They are just to strong defenders.

When to attack: Since TT hammers are not meant to take out massive defenses, they are usually used to soften up players against a real hammer attack. If you hit a couple players in an area around your intended target, you can significantly weaken their defenses in that area, and your hammer will be more likely to break through defenses, and your cats/chiefs can go to work. I find that the best time to attack with a TT hammer is to send it in the middle of the night. Usually you try to get it to land early morning, so reins have to be sent in the middle of the night, but that's when your giving plenty of notice. With a TT hammer, you want then to have as little time to respond as possible. So even if the player you attack is online that late, not all of his friends in the immediate area will be.

Tournament Square: Vital to any hammer, makes a ghost hammer. TTs are the fastest units in the game. Faster than most scouts. At 19 fields per hour, you wont be giving your enemy nearly as much time as compared to 7 field Imperians and such. When you pull catapults and chiefs out...I don't even wanna go there. With a tourney square, they get so fast, it is ridiculous. At 57 fields per hour, your enemy wont have time to get any defenses there.