Best Clash of Clans Armies by Town Hall (TH8–TH18)

Quick answer: The most reliable Clash of Clans armies by Town Hall in July 2026 are Mass Dragons or Hog Riders through TH8–TH10, Queen Charge hybrids at TH11–TH14, and Fireball Super Yetis, RC Walk Root Riders, and Root Rider Yeti at TH15–TH18; for farming, Barch and mass Goblins or Super Miners loot fastest at nearly every level.

Every Town Hall from TH8 to TH18 has a small set of armies that consistently 3-star in July 2026, and picking one that matches your hero and lab levels matters more than copying the flashiest creator link. This guide gives one recommended war army and one farming army per Town Hall band, with the reasoning behind each composition so you can adapt when your account is short a hero or a spell. Compositions are kept approximate — "8–10 Dragons," not a fake-precise count — because your exact numbers depend on troop levels, Clan Castle space, and the base in front of you.

How Should You Choose an Army for Your Town Hall?

Choose an army by matching 3 things: your hero levels, your lab upgrades, and the base type you face. A strategy is only "best" if your account can execute it, so a TH15 with a maxed Queen should lean into Queen Charge while a TH15 with strong dragons should fly air. War armies prioritize a full 3-star; farming armies prioritize loot per minute and low training cost.

The two goals pull in different directions. A war army spends heavily on spells, siege machines, and heroes to guarantee stars. A farming army trades stars for speed and cheap troops so you can raid many bases per hour. Do not use your war army to farm — it costs too much and wins too little loot — and do not bring a farming army to war expecting 3 stars. For the full war-attack mindset behind these compositions, see how to 3-star in war; for cheap loot rotations, see the farming guide.

What Are the Best TH8–TH9 Armies?

The best TH8 war army is Mass Dragons, and the best TH9 war army is a Queen-supported air or Hog Rider attack. TH8 is the classic dragon Town Hall: 8–10 Dragons plus a few support troops and Lightning Spells to take out an Air Defense overwhelm most TH8 bases because defenses cannot yet handle a full dragon flock.

At TH9, air becomes riskier as Air Defenses and Seeking Air Mines improve, so many attackers shift to Hog Riders with Heal Spells or a Queen Charge into mass troops. The Archer Queen unlocks the Queen Charge era here, and learning it at TH9 pays off for every Town Hall above. Lava Hound plus Balloons (LavaLoon) is the strong air alternative when your air troops are leveled.

For farming at both levels, Barch is the workhorse: roughly 70–110 Barbarians and 110–150 Archers, optionally with a handful of Wall Breakers, trained cheaply and dropped around collectors and storages. It is the most universal farming army in the game because it costs little and raids fast.

What Are the Best TH10–TH11 Armies?

The best TH10 war army is a Queen Charge hybrid — a Queen Walk into Bowlers, Miners, or Hogs — and the best TH11 war army adds the Grand Warden to that same core. TH10 introduces the Inferno Tower, which punishes clustered troops, so spread-out compositions like Miners or a Queen Charge behind a wall of troops handle it better than a tight blob.

At TH11 the Grand Warden's Eternal Tome invulnerability window transforms these armies. Queen Charge into Miners, Electro Dragons, or a hybrid ground push all become reliable because the Warden can save your army through the Eagle Artillery and Infernos. Zap-based air (Electro Dragons with Lightning on key defenses) is the forgiving option for players who prefer a simpler deploy.

For farming, mass Miners with Heal Spells shine from TH10 up because Miners burrow past point defenses and are cheap enough to raid repeatedly. Barch still works for pure collector-raiding, and Super Miners (once unlocked) push this style further.

What Are the Best TH12–TH14 Armies?

The best TH12–TH14 war armies are Queen Charge hybrids and Hydra or Super Bowler smashes, built around a strong Queen and Warden. TH12 adds the Giga Tesla on the Town Hall, so your army needs the burst to crack the core; Queen Charge into Bowlers or a Yeti smash both deliver that. TH13 introduces the Royal Champion and the Scattershot, and armies like Super Bowler smash or Electro Titan pushes handle the tougher defenses.

At TH14, hybrid ground remains king: a Queen Charge to funnel and clear one side, then a Bowler, Yeti, or Root Rider core through the middle with the Warden's Life Aura and a Rage-Freeze spell package. Air options like Electro Dragons stay viable when your air lab is ahead of your ground.

For farming across this band, Super Miners, mass Sneaky Goblins, or a fast Barch variant loot best. The Goblin-heavy armies (including the Goblin-focused super troops) are ideal when you are hitting collector and storage bases for a quick resource grab rather than a full clear.

What Are the Best TH15–TH16 Armies?

The best TH15–TH16 war armies are RC Walk Dragons, Root Rider smashes, and Queen Charge hybrids. At TH16, RC Walk Dragons is often the most forgiving option for newer players in the band: the Royal Champion with Electro Boots removes key defenses early, then straightforward Dragons clean up. Root Rider armies, where Root Riders burrow toward core defenses, are the aggressive high-ceiling choice.

TH15 marks the Dragon Duke's unlock, so Duke-based armies enter the meta here — fly him solo ahead of a ground core to keep his enraged Royal Rampage active, as covered in the Dragon Duke guide. TH16's tougher cores and trap layouts reward armies that combine a strong hero opener with a durable main force, which is why RC Walk and Root Rider compositions dominate. For the deploy mechanics behind the burrowing core, see the Root Rider smash guide, and for Queen Charge funneling see the hybrid attack guide.

For farming at TH15–TH16, Super Miners and Super Archer or Goblin blimps remain the fastest loot armies. Because these Town Halls store large amounts of Dark Elixir and gold, a quick Super Miner raid on active bases often out-earns a slow full clear.

What Are the Best TH17–TH18 Armies?

The best TH17 war armies in 2026 are Fireball Super Yetis, RC Walk Root Riders, and Warden Walk Throwers, while TH18 leans on Root Rider Yeti, Super Bowler Smash, and Hydra. At TH17, RC Charge Mass Super Yetis is one of the most consistent strategies: you Fireball a cluster of key defenses, send a Log Launcher and Golem to tank, then dump roughly 7 Super Yetis behind them, and the attack forgives imperfect execution.

At TH18, the current maximum Town Hall released in November 2025, Root Rider Yeti with a Royal Champion charge is widely called the most reliable strategy — the RC tanks with Electro Boots while Super Yetis push the funnel backed by burrowing Root Riders. Super Bowler Smash, Hydra with support spells, and Fireball-based ground attacks round out the top tier. Dragon Duke armies have been shown tripling TH18 bases quickly when the Duke stays enraged and solo.

For farming at TH17–TH18, Super Miners, Goblin blimps, and mass Super Archers loot fastest. The endgame stores enormous resources, so a quick heavy-hitting farm army on active opponents beats grinding low-loot bases.

How Do You Adapt an Army to the Base in Front of You?

Adapt an army by reading 3 base traits before you attack: core defense clustering, trap density, and Town Hall placement. A ringed, compartmentalized core rewards burrowing troops like Root Riders and Miners; an open base rewards a straight smash; a trap-heavy side rewards the Dragon Duke's half-trap-damage rage or a Warden-protected push.

The spells you bring should answer the base's biggest threat. Freeze the highest single-target defense (a Monolith, Inferno, or Scattershot), Rage the core where your troops slow down, and use the Warden's Eternal Tome to survive the exact moment your army enters the danger zone. Siege machine choice follows the same logic: a Log Launcher or Battle Blimp to break in where the base is toughest.

TrophyCoach's War Coaching tool reads your public war log so you can see which of these armies actually fits the bases your clan faces, instead of forcing a creator's link onto a matchup it was not built for. Pair the right army with the right base and your 3-star rate climbs faster than any single "best" army could deliver.

How Do Spells and Siege Machines Change by Town Hall?

Spells and siege machines change your army's ceiling as much as the troops do, and they scale with Town Hall through both count and unlocks. Early on you have room for only a few spells, so TH8–TH10 armies lean on Lightning to snipe an Air Defense, Rage and Heal to push a lane, and a Poison to handle Clan Castle troops. As your Spell Factory and Town Hall grow, you gain the spell slots that make Freeze and multiple Rages possible, which is exactly what the tougher TH15–TH18 cores demand.

Siege machines follow the same curve. A Wall Wrecker or Battle Blimp delivers your Clan Castle troops and heroes deep into a base, while a Log Launcher or Flame Flinger clears a lane from range. At high Town Halls the siege choice often decides whether your army breaks into the core at all — a Log Launcher tanking into a ringed TH18 base can be the difference between a 2-star and a 3-star. Bring the siege that opens the toughest part of the specific base, not the one you always use.

What Clan Castle Troops Should You Request for War?

Request Clan Castle troops that plug your army's biggest gap, because a well-chosen defensive-turned-offensive troop can carry a lane your main force cannot reach. For most war armies the strongest requests are a high-damage troop like a max-level Electro Dragon, Super troop, or a Headhunter that hunts enemy heroes, plus a Rage or Freeze spell in the spell slots your Clan Castle allows.

The right request depends on your strategy. A ground smash wants a tanky or high-damage troop to reinforce the core push; an air attack wants an air troop that survives Air Defenses; a Queen Charge wants a Healer or a damage troop to strengthen the walk. Ask your clan for what the base in front of you requires, and reciprocate by donating the troops your clanmates request. TrophyCoach's War Coaching tool helps you plan these requests against your actual war matchups so you are not guessing what to fill your Clan Castle with.

The best request also shifts by Town Hall band, because your Clan Castle capacity and the troops your clanmates can donate both grow as you climb. Use the per-band guide below as a default and adjust to the base.

A Headhunter that targets enemy heroes is especially useful on defense during war, so consider what your clan should hold in their own Castles too. The single best habit is to request before every serious attack rather than reusing whatever is left over from the last raid.

How Much Do These Armies Cost to Train and How Much Camp Space Do They Need?

Every army is limited by your total housing space, which grows as you upgrade your 4 Army Camps and climb Town Halls. A maxed set of 4 Army Camps provides roughly 320 housing space at earlier levels, rising to around 352 at the top Town Halls, and your Clan Castle adds roughly 45–55 more depending on its level. That ceiling is why compositions stay approximate: "8–10 Dragons" fills a TH8 camp, but the same slot count buys fewer high-housing units like Super Yetis or Root Riders at TH17–TH18.

Training cost and training time matter as much as space, and this is exactly why war and farming armies diverge. A war army loads up on high-housing troops, siege machines, and 4–6 spells, so it costs heavy Elixir and Dark Elixir and takes longer to brew — acceptable when you attack once for 3 stars. A farming army uses cheap, fast-training troops like Barbarians, Archers, and Goblins so you can retrain and raid many bases per hour without draining storages. The rule of thumb: if you will attack once and want maximum stars, spend big; if you will attack ten times for loot, keep it cheap and quick.

Plan your camp space around your win condition. A war army that leaves 20 housing space empty is a war army missing a spell or a cleanup unit, while a farming army that overspends on housing raids too slowly to profit.

How Do You Practice a New Army Before Using It in War?

Practice a new army before you commit it to war, because a mis-executed meta strategy loses more stars than a familiar simpler one. War attacks are scarce and public, so the worst place to learn Root Rider Yeti or a Queen Charge is on a live war base your clan is counting on. Build the muscle memory first, then bring it to war.

The most useful practice tools are free and low-stakes. Friendly Challenges let you attack a clanmate's exact base as many times as you want with no loot or trophy risk, which is the closest thing to a war rehearsal — post the base you expect to face and run the army 5–10 times. Multiplayer farming attacks let you practice the opening funnel and hero deployment against real, varied bases while still earning loot. The single-player campaign and past war replays are useful for studying troop pathing and spell timing without any pressure.

Structure the practice like a drill, not random attacking. First, isolate one skill — usually the funnel or the hero walk that sets up the army. Second, run the full army against 5 similar bases and mark the single reason each attack fell short: bad funnel, wrong spell timing, or a troop pathing error. Third, fix that one leak before adding complexity. An army becomes war-ready when you can 3-star comfortably in Friendly Challenges against the base type you expect, not the first time it works in a highlight clip. Pair this with the how to 3-star in war guide to connect the practice to real war planning.

How Do You Progress Your Army as You Move Up a Town Hall?

Progress your army when you move up a Town Hall by first checking which of your troops and spells actually upgraded in the lab, because a new Town Hall does not make you stronger until you level the units your strategy depends on. A common trap is jumping to a higher-Town-Hall army link the day you upgrade, before your heroes, troops, and spells can support it. The result is weaker attacks than you had at the previous level.

The smoother path is to keep running the army that worked at your old Town Hall while you upgrade heroes and lab, then transition to the new meta strategy once those pieces are usable. For example, a fresh TH16 can keep hitting with its TH15 Queen Charge or RC Walk Dragons until the Royal Champion's Electro Boots and the new troop levels are ready, then move into the tougher Root Rider and Duke-based strategies. Upgrade order off the battlefield decides what you can do on it — strengthen the heroes these armies lean on using the hero upgrade order guide and the broader upgrade priority guide, and let the Upgrade Priority Advisor sequence it against your account.

The clearest signal that you are ready for a new army is consistency: when your current attack 3-stars comfortably and your heroes and key troops are near the new cap, the harder strategies become reliable instead of aspirational. Until then, a well-executed simpler army beats a poorly supported meta one every time.

What Are the Best Armies for Trophy Pushing?

Trophy-pushing armies sit between war and farming: they need to win more attacks than they lose against real, active bases, but they must also train fast enough to keep queueing. The best trophy-pushing armies in July 2026 are the same reliable strategies you use in war, trimmed for speed and consistency rather than a guaranteed 3-star. The goal is a high percentage and a quick brew, not a perfect clear every time.

At most Town Halls, a hero-heavy army is the trophy pusher's friend because heroes carry no training cost and regenerate between attacks. A Queen Charge into a straightforward core, an RC Walk into Dragons, or a hero-supported spam army lets you push offense while spending little Elixir on troops. In Legend League and the higher leagues, consistency beats ceiling: an army that reliably takes 2 stars and 60% is worth more trophies over 8 daily attacks than one that occasionally triples but often flops. Keep your loadout stable so you learn the exact deploy that works against the base types you keep matching into.

The practical trophy-push routine is to pick one army you can execute half-asleep, run it against your daily attacks, and only switch when the meta bases in your league clearly counter it. Because you attack many times per day at the top, training time and hero regeneration matter as much as raw strength — this is the same speed-versus-power tradeoff described in the training-cost section above, tilted toward consistency. For the climb itself, pair this with a dedicated trophy-pushing plan and keep your heroes as close to their caps as your hero upgrade order allows, since hero levels decide your ceiling in the high leagues.

What Are the Most Common Army Mistakes by Town Hall?

Mistake 1 — flying air past its window. Mass Dragons dominate TH8 but get shredded once TH9–TH11 Air Defenses and Seeking Air Mines scale up. Impact: significant. Shift to Queen Charge or ground hybrids as you climb unless your air lab is far ahead.

Mistake 2 — using a war army to farm. War armies cost heavy Elixir and Dark Elixir on spells and siege machines. Impact: significant to your loot rate. Train cheap Barch, Goblins, or Super Miners for farming instead.

Mistake 3 — ignoring the funnel. Skipping a Queen Charge or hero-walk funnel sends your core army into the wrong path. Impact: significant. Spend the opening seconds building a clean lane before committing your main force.

Mistake 4 — bringing the wrong spells. A smash army with no Freeze folds to a single Monolith or Inferno. Impact: significant. Match spells to the base's biggest threat, not to habit.

Mistake 5 — copying a link above your account level. A TH18 army link fails on a TH16 account with lower heroes and lab. Impact: significant. Pick an army your hero and lab levels can actually execute — see the hero upgrade order guide to strengthen the heroes these armies depend on.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best army for TH8 in Clash of Clans?

The best TH8 army is Mass Dragons — roughly 8–10 Dragons with a few support troops and Lightning Spells to remove an Air Defense. TH8 defenses cannot handle a full dragon flock, making it the most reliable 3-star army at that level.

What is the best TH17 attack strategy in 2026?

The best TH17 attack strategy in 2026 is Fireball Super Yetis (also called RC Charge Mass Super Yetis): Fireball a defense cluster, tank with a Log Launcher and Golem, then deploy about 7 Super Yetis. RC Walk Root Riders and Warden Walk Throwers are the other top options.

What is the best TH18 army right now?

The best TH18 army in July 2026 is Root Rider Yeti with a Royal Champion charge, where the RC tanks with Electro Boots while Super Yetis and Root Riders push the core. Super Bowler Smash and Hydra are the strong alternatives, and Dragon Duke armies can triple bases quickly.

What is the best farming army in Clash of Clans?

The best all-around farming army is Barch — roughly 70–110 Barbarians and 110–150 Archers — because it trains cheaply and raids collectors fast. From TH10 up, mass Miners, Super Miners, and Sneaky Goblins loot even faster on active bases.

Should I use the same army for war and farming?

No — war and farming armies have opposite goals. War armies spend heavily on spells and siege machines to guarantee 3 stars, while farming armies use cheap troops like Barch or Goblins to maximize loot per minute. Using a war army to farm wastes resources.

How many Dragons should I bring at TH8?

Bring roughly 8–10 Dragons at TH8, filling the rest of your army space with support troops and 1–2 Lightning Spells to knock out an Air Defense. The exact count depends on your camp capacity and Dragon level, so keep it approximate and adjust to the base.

When should I switch to a new army after upgrading my Town Hall?

Switch to a new army once your heroes, key troops, and spells have leveled toward the new cap and your current attack 3-stars comfortably. Until then, keep running the army that worked at your previous Town Hall — a well-executed simpler army beats a poorly supported meta strategy, so upgrade off the battlefield before you change strategies on it.