You just finished the tutorial. The Villager is finally done pointing at things, and suddenly, you’re staring at a tiny Town Hall 1 with a handful of gems and a massive sense of "now what?" Most players think the level one army phase is just a footnote—a thirty-minute speedrun before you hit Town Hall 3 and start seeing "real" gameplay. They're wrong. Honestly, how you handle these first few hours dictates whether you’re going to be a strategic powerhouse or just another person who quits because they ran out of gold and got bored.
It's tiny. It's basic. But it’s the foundation.
In Clash of Clans, the level one army consists of exactly one unit: the Barbarian. That’s it. No Archers, no Goblins, and definitely no Dragons. You have a single Barracks that takes mere seconds to train a troop, and a pair of Army Camps that can barely hold 20 units total. It feels like playing with toy soldiers. Yet, this is where you learn the most important lesson in the game: funneling and pathfinding. If you can’t win with 20 Barbarians, you’re going to have a nightmare of a time when the game introduces Wall Breakers and Spells.
The Reality of Level One Army Mechanics
Stop looking at the big YouTubers with their Max Town Halls for a second. At this stage, your level one army is literally just a horde of guys with yellow mustaches. They have 45 Hit Points and do 8 damage per second. That sounds pathetic until you realize the enemy’s Level 1 Cannon only has 400 HP and fires once every 0.8 seconds. It’s a numbers game.
Most newbies make the mistake of "sprinkling." They tap the screen in a circle around the base, thinking they’re being tactical by attacking from all sides. That is the fastest way to see your tiny army evaporated. Because the Barbarian’s AI is programmed to hit the closest building, spreading them out means they take individual fire from the Cannon. One shot, one kill. Instead, you need to understand "clumping."
When you drop all 20 Barbarians on a single tile near the Cannon, the Cannon can still only kill one at a time. Meanwhile, the other 19 are hacking away. It’s basic math. It’s also the only way you’re going to clear the early Goblin Map stages like "Payback" or "Goblin Forest" without losing half your force.
Why Resource Management Starts Here
You’ve got a Gold Mine and an Elixir Collector. They’re slow. At level one, they produce 160 units per hour. That’s nothing. If you waste your level one army on raids that don't return a profit, you’re stuck waiting.
Calculated risks are everything.
In the early game, the "Search for Opponent" button is your best friend and your worst enemy. It costs 10 Gold to skip a base. If you have 500 Gold, you can only skip 50 times. Most people find a base with a single Cannon and panic. They dump their whole army, win 100 Gold, but spent 500 Elixir to train the troops. You’re actually losing progress. You have to look for "Dead Bases"—even at Town Hall 2 and 3, people leave the game. Look for the collectors that are full. That’s where the real profit lies.
Strategy for the Level One Army Veteran
Let's talk about the Barracks. It’s the only building that matters besides your Town Hall. Upgrading your Barracks is the only way to escape the "Barbarian Loop." But while you are stuck with a level one army, you should be hyper-focused on your Army Camp capacity.
A lot of players rush the Town Hall upgrade. Don't.
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Max your camps first. Going from 20 troops to 30 troops is a 50% increase in your total damage output. In the world of high-level play, a 50% buff would be game-breaking. At level one, it's just a few minutes of waiting.
The Wall Problem
At this level, you don't have Wall Breakers. Walls are the ultimate enemy. A level one wall has 300 HP. If you send one Barbarian to hit a wall, he’ll be there for 37 seconds. The Cannon will kill him in about 5 seconds. You see the problem?
You have to find the gaps. New players often forget to close their own walls, and guess what? Your opponents do the same thing. Look for the corners. If there’s a gap in the red "no-deploy" zone, you can drop your level one army right inside their base. It feels like cheating. It’s just scouting.
Navigating the Early Game Economy
The gems. Oh man, the gems. Supercell gives you 250 to start. The game "suggests" you use them to finish buildings instantly. Do not do this. Those gems are for Builder Huts.
Your level one army can only get you so far if you only have two Builders. You need that third hut as soon as possible. This means clearing obstacles—those trees and stones surrounding your base. Each one has a chance to drop 0 to 6 gems. It’s a grind. It’s tedious. But if you want to be competitive by Town Hall 7, you need to start the gem-hoarding habit the second you spawn into the world.
Common Misconceptions About Tiny Bases
People think Level 1 is safe. It's not. You have a 3-day shield when you start, but the moment you attack another player, that shield drops.
Suddenly, you're on the menu.
Because your level one army is weak, your defense is likely weaker. You have one Cannon. Maybe a few walls if you were smart. If a Town Hall 3 player finds you, they will use Archers to snipe your Cannon from over the wall. You can't stop it. The trick isn't defending your base; it's spending your resources. If you have 0 Gold in your storages, nobody wants to attack you. It's not worth their time. Spend your loot on walls or upgrades before you log off.
Moving Beyond the Basics
Eventually, the Barbarian won't be enough. You’ll hit Town Hall 2, unlock Archers, and the game changes. Archers have 20 HP—they die if a Cannon even looks at them funny. But they have range.
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The synergy between the level one army (Barbarians) and the new Archers is the "Barch" strategy. It’s the oldest trick in the book. You send the Barbarians in first to soak up the damage (meat shields) and put the Archers behind them to take out the defenses.
It’s beautiful in its simplicity.
It also teaches you about "Aggro." If the Cannon is busy shooting a Barbarian, it will not switch to the Archer until that Barbarian is dead. This is the core mechanic of every single high-level attack, from Golem-Wizard combos to Electro Dragon loon-pathing.
Actionable Steps for New Players
If you're currently sitting there with a brand new account, do these three things immediately:
- Prioritize Army Camps: Gold is for walls and defenses, but Elixir is for your army. Never let your Elixir storage sit full while an Army Camp is still at its starting level. More troops equals more loot.
- The 50% Rule: In multiplayer, you only need to destroy 50% of the buildings to win a trophy and get the win bonus. You don't always need a 3-star. If the Town Hall is tucked behind three layers of walls, just ignore it. Hit the outside buildings, take the 50%, and run with the loot.
- Save the Gems: I cannot stress this enough. Ignore the "Finish Now" button. It’s a trap designed to make you spend real money later.
The level one army isn't just a hurdle to jump over. It's the training ground. Players who master the timing of troop deployment and the importance of resource management here are the ones who end up in Titan League later. Everyone else just ends up frustrated, wondering why their "massive" army keeps dying to a single Mortar. Pay attention to the little guys; they're teaching you how the whole game works.
Stop rushing. Start observing how those Barbarians move. It’ll save you months of frustration down the road. Focus on the fundamentals of troop AI now, and you’ll find that the complex strategies of the later game feel much more intuitive. Success in Clash isn't about having the biggest troops; it's about knowing exactly what the smallest ones will do when you let them go.