Attack Helicopter (AH): An Excellent choice for ALL Domination Ages

We encourage alliance members to learn, use and donate Attack Helicopters (AH) especially for Global age and below. When use well, AH can help members conquer bases they cannot otherwise.

Attack Helicopters (AH) are barrack troops available in Atomic Age and later. However, everybody at any age can acquire an AH through events, typically from watching Marco Polo videos every few weeks.

AHs are great for the team.  Many of us have an AH in our troop composition specifically for the purpose of donating them to team members.  Each AH takes 8 troop spaces and 6 minutes to retrain.

**How to use your own AH**

**Donations:** Donate AHs to your team members should be the primary way to use your own AH. Load no more than one AH at a time into your barrack. During donation, donate AH to your team members one at time, retrain and repeat if needed. Your team will appreciate your AH donations as will you when you receive AHs from your team members.

**Use in battles:** You can use your own AH in battles but if the AH does not survive the battle, you won't be able to retrain it. Therefore, use your AH with extreme caution and typically only use for after battle clean up.

**How to use donated AHs**

**Preparation:** First and most importantly check the Nation you are attacking.  If you attack British, Chinese, Japanese and Koreans, you must be careful with the deployment of the AHs.

o  British, Chinese and Koreans have ranged units on defense coming from the Command Post. These ranged units can shoot at and destroy AHs very quickly. (tip: this is same with the use of commandos on these nations.)

o  Japanese Town Center will shoot at AHs while AHs do not consider town center as a defensive structure.

o  Assess the Enemy Base. Tanks and high lever infantry defenders can and will shoot at AHs.

**Deployment:** Correct deployment is critically important.

o  AHs can fly through walls, so they can to destroy defensive structures without any detours. The quicker speed and low hit points means you should usually deploy your AHs last. AHs can destroy Towers, Ballista/Cannons, Catapult/Mortars, Garrison/Stables. Whichever of those are most likely to harm your ground troops and slow them down, your AH can blaze the trail and take them out before your ground troops arrive.

o  Do not deploy AHs too close to Towers and Castles. Towers and Castles can shoot your AH down.  While AHs has attack range great than towers and castles, in deployment they sometimes move one or two spaces and get into their attack range.

o  It is generally advised to deploy your AHs with your main troops and use Rally to regroup them often. More on the next section. (tip: in most battles, most players should avoid deploy their troops in wide areas. It spreads your attack power thin and more vulnerable to defensive troops.)

**Considerations during the battle**

o  Use the Rally feature often but carefully.  Rally allows you to pull AHs away from danger, heals your AHs and your main troops to catch up and take care of the defenders. Use Rally well will significantly extend your AHs survival time and your main troops. Therefore, the use of Rally should be a slight pull back from danger. Because Rally speeds up your troops significantly, the "pull back" actually speeds up your attack and movement but at the same time heals your troops more efficiently as a group if you have healing cart(s).

o  From time to time you will experience something unexpected, such as town center troops. The strategy is the same, use Barrage tactics or Betrayal tactics on those troops to protect your AHs and main troops.

o  Besides Japanese Town Center, strongholds have slightly longer attack range than AHs. Use Sabotage tactics on them or use Rally to pull AHs away to heal.

**General considerations**

o  AHs are valuable for the team as a powerful troop donation unit.

o  You may use your AH as a clean up tool when all dangerous defense buildings and shooters have been eliminated later in the attack.

o  Using 8 spaces for the AH is a good way to help your teammates and allow your teammates to return the favor.

o  We already some members actively donating AHs. We like to get more members to donate so that more members can take donated AHs into battles more often.

One final thought.  **Assault Vehicles (AV)** has some similar attributes. AVs can also be retrained after donations. AVs are stronger but have shorter range so they are always under direct fire but utilizing them well in early ages can give you a formidable competitive advantage.