Advanced map

Peninsula

Info

Peninsula is an Advanced map added in update 7.0 (December 2018), released together with Alpine Run. It shows a rocky, mountainous peninsula reaching down from the north into open water, with a few small islands around it.

Layout and path. One lane. Bloons enter at the top left, travel down the left side of the peninsula, turn right along the bottom, and climb back up to exit at the top right. The track wraps around the mountain, so it is a fairly short U shape with no alternate routes.

Line of sight. The mountain in the middle blocks line of sight severely. A tower on one side of it usually cannot hit bloons on the other side, which makes many land towers far weaker here than on open maps.

Land and high ground. Land is scarce. There is a small placeable area on the mountaintop (high ground that sees over the slopes), a small plot at the bottom right of the peninsula, and nothing on the steep slopes.

Removable objects. Three small rocky islands right next to the track are covered in seaweed: one to the left of the peninsula, one at the bottom left and one at the top right. Each can be cleared for $500 ($1,500 total) to create land for towers. The top-right island next to the exit is a classic Perma-Spike spot.

Water. Water dominates: well over 80% of the placeable space is only for water towers, so Buccaneers, Subs, Mermonkeys, Brickell and Pat Fusty all have plenty of room.

When it launched, Peninsula was considered one of the hardest maps in the game, behind only a few Expert maps. Tower buffs and newer, harder Advanced maps have since made it a slightly above-average Advanced map. It is similar to Off The Coast in its love of water towers, but with a shorter lane and a far more intrusive line-of-sight blocker.

How to beat Peninsula

Map overview for strategy

Peninsula is a water map with a mountain in the middle. Most of your defence will float, and it needs to deal with a short lane that wraps around a big line-of-sight blocker.

Key points:

Use towers that see over the mountain. Carrier Flagship planes, Monkey Aces, Heli Pilots, Mortars and Subs with Advanced Intel all ignore or work around it.
Clear the islands when you need them. For $500 each, the three seaweed islands become valuable land right beside the track. The top-right one next to the exit is ideal for Perma-Spike, and the one to the left of the mountain is a good spot for a support cluster.
Exit protection matters. The lane is short, so leaks are common. A Perma-Spike on the top-right island fixes most of them.

Best towers

Monkey Buccaneer 5-2-0 (Carrier Flagship): one of the few win conditions that sees over the mountain and uses the full track. Extremely strong through the 80s and still solid in the 90s, and its buff to water towers is excellent on a map full of them. Destroyer (3-2-0) and Aircraft Carrier (4-2-0) are the stepping stones.
Spike Factory 2-0-5 or 0-2-5 (Perma-Spike): on the cleared top-right island, with a 3-0-1 Berserker Brew. It tanks huge numbers of bloons and lower blimps.
Beast Handler (Orca): at full power, Orca deals enormous damage and wipes most rounds. Place the handler on the cleared island left of the mountain with Jungle Drums, camo support and Relentless Glue nearby, and merge extra Great Whites into it to raise its power. An Engineer's Overclock keeps it boosted. It needs separate help for the BAD, and Perma-Spike covers its occasional leaks.
Monkey Sub 2-0-4 or 2-4-0: Advanced Intel lets subs shoot wherever your other towers can see.
Monkey Village 2-2-0: on the mountaintop or a cleared island to buff nearby towers.

Best heroes

Admiral Brickell: the standard choice. Naval Tactics and Mega Mines are huge with a Flagship build on a map this wet.
Pat Fusty: amphibious and sturdy, with Big Squeeze for blimps.
Etienne: his drones fly over the mountain and help cover the whole lane.

Easy and Medium

Put Brickell or a Dart Monkey near the start of the track, add a Monkey Sub and a Buccaneer in the water. Get camo by round 24 and a 3-2-0 Destroyer for round 40. Clear the top-right island for a Perma-Spike later and finish with Aircraft Carrier or Flagship.

Hard

Go naval: Brickell, Destroyer, Aircraft Carrier and Flagship, with a Village and a Perma-Spike on the top-right island. Add a Sub 2-4-0 First Strike Capability for burst damage on the toughest blimps.

CHIMPS

A Brickell and Flagship CHIMPS route:

Round 1: Brickell in the water near the start of the lane and a Dart Monkey on the mountaintop or near the track.
Rounds 2 to 15: a Monkey Sub near the bottom of the U, then a Buccaneer going 2-0-0.
Rounds 16 to 30: Buccaneer to 3-2-0 Destroyer. Get camo for round 24 with a Village 0-2-0 within range of your towers, after clearing an island if needed.
Rounds 31 to 50: Village to 2-2-0, Buccaneer to 4-2-0 Aircraft Carrier before round 40.
Rounds 51 to 70: clear the top-right island ($500) and start a Spike Factory towards Perma-Spike, plus an Alchemist 3-0-1. Add a second Destroyer or a Sub 2-4-0 for round 63 and blimp rounds.
Rounds 71 to 90: upgrade to 5-2-0 Carrier Flagship and finish Perma-Spike.
Rounds 90 to 100: use Naval Tactics for DDT rounds and Mega Mines plus First Strike on ZOMGs and round 100's BAD.

Impoppable

The naval plan works the same way; clear the top-right island earlier because one leak is fatal.

Other modes

In Half Cash, skip island clearing until you really need it and lean on a single Destroyer line into Aircraft Carrier. On Deflation, spend your fixed starting cash on water towers that see over the mountain rather than on clearing islands, since there is no income to fund changes later.

Dangerous rounds on this map

Round 24: first camo; water towers often need a Village to see it.
Round 40: first MOAB on a short lane.
Round 63: a ceramic rush where the mountain hides bloons from land towers.
Rounds 90 to 100: fast DDTs and the BAD; Flagship, Mega Mines and Perma-Spike carry this stretch.

The BTD6 Master YouTube channel has video guides for Peninsula, including a full CHIMPS run.