Attack Strategy, Please Read the whole post.

After fending them off our base and reclaiming the indigenous lands, it’s time to strike back at the black heart of the Black Guard! And we’re here to talk strategy! How to take down Tank Tango, pulverize the Powder Keg, and eventually deny fate at the Dead End! If you aren’t sure what a Task Force is or have more general questions, maybe take a gander at the General Guide to Task Forces – Otherwise let’s get down to business!


Difference Between Operations and Other Stages

First order of business is understanding the difference between these Blackguard strongholds and everything else you’ve faced up till now. Don’t go in assuming the tactics you used on ol’ Doc Terror will go so swimmingly here!



The defenses here are super beefed up, with some peculiar additions every now and then (like the Super Mortar). Despite their fierce defenses, there’s always a crack in the armor – a heel on the Achillian behemoths! We’ll talk about those shortly!


Weaknesses and Strengths are Amplified



In Operations, all the defenses are extreme versions of themselves, and troops that normally do poorly against certain types of defenses will be completely annihilated if facing off against them here.

Examples of which units should not fight which defenses in Operations (if avoidable)

Machine Guns and Flamethrowers will shred Warriors if they get close
Sniper Towers, Cannons, and Boom Cannons will destroy Tanks and Heavies very quickly
Rocket Launchers and Shock Launchers will vaporize Riflemen and Zookas in a flash
That said, it’s very important to remember each defenses’ weakness and that proper troop compositions can take down even the most overpowered Operation defenses.

Boom Cannons fire very slowly, so masses of Riflemen or other infantry can swarm and overwhelm a group of them
Zookas and Tanks have Flamethrowers completely beat due to their long range
Rocket and Shock Launchers cannot fire on units too close to them so Warriors can quickly destroy them
Sniper Towers have strong single target damage but have trouble dealing with an onslaught of Heavies and Zookas or Riflemen en masse
On the topic of troops and gaining an advantage against the enemy, let’s talk about range and positioning.



Range and Positioning Matters



A key skill to Boom Beach in general, knowing the range of enemy defenses and the best angle of attack can minimize your losses and isolate enemy defenses. In operations where each defense has significantly greater damage, staying out of range is the only guarantee to negating their attack.

That said your positioning and range are critical to not drawing the entire bases’ fury upon your troops and surviving long enough to do some serious damage. Even low level players can have a huge impact on an operation’s success with proper troop combinations and tactics.

Infographic of the relative ranges of defenses and troops.

Troop and Building Range Infographic Boom Beach

So how do you do that?

Scouting the operation before range and checking the range of the defenses where you plan to attack of course.

Are you attacking with Tanks and Medics? Then make note of the Cannons, Sniper Towers, and Boom Cannons to know where you can attack safely without taking crossfire from them.
Using Warriors to rush the Shock Launchers and Rocket Launchers? Find the best flare and smoke path and if there are defenses in range that can cripple your attack e.g. other Shock Launchers, Machine Guns, Flamethrowers protecting them.
Are there tons of Cannons, Machine Guns and Flamethrowers on the front line? Build up some grenadiers and check the range of the Rocket Launchers and Shock Launchers to avoid them while you decimate their other defenses.


Knowing the range overlap of the operation defenses can save you a lot of early losses and make your attack that much more successful.

Simply exploiting defense range is one of the most potent strategies in Boom Beach and can easily net you some otherwise unlikely victories.



Some positioning tips for making a successful attack

Scout the operation and decide what you want to accomplish
Check the ranges of the defenses and see where you can isolate your targets
Use flares to reposition your units in the best positions to not attract additional fire
Destroy the targeted defenses, regroup and move onto the next target
Once some defenses have been destroyed, recognizing the remaining defense range can also allow you to completely ignore a lot of the defenses and hit the Power Core safely from a distance.


Priority Targets

Since range is so important this is why long range defenses like Rocket Launchers and Shock Launchers are the most dangerous defenses in operations as they can render many attack strategies useless.

Rocket Launchers are a staple of many operations and in great numbers they can even bring down the beefiest Heavies or Tanks. Luckily these defenses are usually bunched together and eliminating these clumps of Rocket Launchers should be a priority especially if they cover the HQ or other key defenses.
Shock Launchers are one of the most crippling defenses. A couple of these can almost permanently lock down your troops and make them fodder for all the other defenses. Be aware of their range when planning your attack. Also if you want to take a hit for the team, mass warriors with smoke and shock bombs can get in close and destroy them due to their blind spot.
Troop Compositions for Operations

You are probably familiar with most of the troop compositions in Boom Beach, so let’s go through the strengths and weaknesses they have for Task Force operations.

Heavy/Zooka

Strong troop composition with good damage and decent tankiness
Good against a pretty wide variety of defenses
This combination needs to be wary of Cannons and Boom Cannons which will destroy the Heavies and leave the Zookas vulnerable
Rocket Launchers are also an issue as stray fire may pick off the Zookas
Difficult to regroup during the middle of battle as Heavies can possibly outrun the Zookas and leave them exposed
Warriors

Warriors are great for focusing down high priority targets
With smoke and shock bombs, they can remove priority targets like Rocket and Shock Launchers
Machine Guns and Flamethrowers are usually bad news for Warriors but in operations where they are maxed out, they are especially deadly and will shred Warriors before they can even get close enough.
Rushing the Power Core before other defenses are destroyed is not recommended since the Power Core can have over 300,000 health!
Tanks/Medics

Tank/Medics are core to a lot of Task Force Operations since operation maps are huge, battles can be long, and attacks become battles of attrition.
With their high health and Medic backup, Tanks have a good chance of rolling from one defense to the next
Their long range also puts them out of range of many dangerous defenses
Cannons, Boom Cannons, and Sniper Towers are particularly banes of Tanks, many of which can eliminate a tank in 1 or 2 shots.
While very tanky, be careful about carelessly approaching some of their more unlikely foes. A level 20 Machine Gun can still do a great amount of damage to Tanks and a cohort of Rocket Launchers can also spell trouble for them.
Due to a Tank’s slow firing speed, Shock Launchers are especially bad for them since they can be locked down almost the entire battle even from a single Shock Launcher.
Mass Riflemen

Mass Riflemen don’t perform well on most Operation maps since they can’t out-range any defenses and the damage boosted AOE defenses can usually make quick work of them.
An exception to this rule are Sniper Towers, Cannons, and Boom Cannons that aren’t covered by area of effect (AOE) defenses.
Grenadiers/Medics/Tanks

By far my favorite addition to the troop arsenal, Grenadiers are excellent for Operation maps
Great for mine clearing and hitting clusters of buildings, both of these features are common to Operation maps.
Their range also let’s them to safely barrage Cannons, Machine Guns, Flamethrowers, and the other defenses behind those buildings
Grenadiers usually take a long time to destroy defenses, and this is a drawback to their use in base raiding; however in Operations, you usually have more than enough time, and these units are excellent for softening up the defenses for other troops or future attacks.
Due to their average health pool, Grenadiers will die very quickly to Mortars, Shock Launchers, Rocket Launchers, and Sniper Towers even with Medic support.

I did not write this. All credit goes to https://onclan.com/tip/task-force-operations-tactics-guide-strategy-in-boom-beach.YEAgWZ30XkTrl590

excellent post, but most of it should be well known already.
Main message for me here is, that we should use the Drunks more often. maybe the first 2-4 attacks per (no solo) base should be warrior attacks for key defenses + grenadiert to take out clusters.

absolute, you seem to be a strategist
do you have the ambition to start some sort of map collection for us? What I mean is doing screen shots of op maps and writing down attacking strategies that worked as well as epic fails! I know, that bases change but the general structure stays the same.

If that works out, we could check our "Knowledgebase" before attacking.