A Winning Strategy in the March of the Ants Base Game

March 8, 2020 | Sessions | 6 comments

Find out more about the March of the Ants base game solo mode and how it might be time to add the first expansion.

In the past, I used to classify a newly arrived game as all done and explored for the time being after 1-4 plays. I never really got to experience the in-depth strategies. So it was no surprise that I returned to March of the Ants! I was excited to take on the centipedes again, even though I kept eyeing the expansion and wondering if I should try it out…

Game Overview

Game Name: March of the Ants
Publication Year:
 2015
Designer:
 Tim Eisner and Ryan Swisher
Artist:
 Tim Eisner, Ryan Swisher, and Peter Wocken
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game

There are very distinct phases to gameplay explained on the player board. Or… Ant board? In any event, the descriptions are all there with detailed summaries.

Fighting against the invading centipedes takes strategic planning, especially since it’s possible to lose every ant!

R

First Play

March 4, 2020

Complexity

3

Latest Play

March 27, 2022

Expansions

2

Setup Time

5 Minutes

Lifetime Plays

25

Play Time

40 Minutes

:

High Score

26

1

Game Area

34" x 24"

;

Low Score

4

A Hard Challenge

I went up to the hard difficulty level, which allows only 2 cards to be kept in hand at the start. These can be played for bonuses, or for their ferocity in battles.

However, the odd thing was that I pulled off a pretty handy victory. It was all about swarming the centipedes!

As soon as one showed up, I sent the ants marching over to destroy it. This worked out well, particularly since the maximum centipede strength was always 8.

Had I stumbled onto a winning strategy? I checked the rules, and all looked good. So onward I went to play again!

Fatal Miscalculations

Even with the knowledge of the centipede’s maximum strength, I still made a horrible mistake at one point.

A small army of 5 ants was left in a contested hex, and I had no way to add any ferocity. It seemed like they would be safe, but naturally, the mean centipede ate them all.

The only ant who survived was this lone worker who was ready to forage for food. Thank goodness for that!

An instant loss occurs when all of the ants are removed from the meadow. I still pulled off the victory, though, and it was a good thing I didn’t keep all of the ants together.

A Slightly Repetitive Sequence of Events

As I progressed through this session, I discovered that my potential winning strategy worked pretty consistently. My scores were about the same each time, and even when I deviated on purpose, I always returned to the same sequence. There were a few differences, but this is how it looked during each season.

Early Spring

  • Explore: Expand into a single additional hex to find more resources, particularly food and extra cards.
  • March: Send in a force of ants capable of destroying a centipede, and repeat, if possible.

Green Growth

  • March: Focus on occupying a lot of the inner hexes and prepare to attack or defend against the centipedes.
  • March: In response to the placement of a new centipede, send in a strong force of ants and repeat, if possible.

Parched Ground

  • Play a Card: With a usually large store of resources, find a useful bonus on an event or evolution and play it.
  • March: Maintain dominance in the inner hexes and position the ants for any potential attacks.

Autumn

  • March: Attack any centipede that enters or moves into a hex outside of the Great Tunnel.
  • March: Continue to initiate a single attack at the end of each march to destroy as many centipedes as possible.

There were times when I deviated a bit, but never did I find a need to forage. Furthermore, the explore action was only necessary 1-2 times. The centipedes could reliably add more hexes since I was so focused on aggressively keeping them out of the meadow. My cards were usually used for ferocity, and I just had to match the maximum strength of 8.

In some ways, I felt like I had solved the game. It felt quite odd! Perhaps there is some major rule I’ve overlooked, though. I wouldn’t put it past myself! This only makes me excited to play with the expansion, though.

Session Overview

Play Number: 6-8
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Normal Difficulty Level
Required Play Space: 34″ x 24″
Setup Time: 5 Minutes
Play Time: 20 Minutes per Play
Outcome: 18-11, 17-9, and 18-11 (3 Wins)

So… Did I break March of the Ants? I even tried some different paths, to the point that I was losing! Yet I pulled ahead again with continuous march actions.

%

20 Plays

Affordability

Price & Value

8

Functionality

Challenges & Mechanics

9

Originality

Design & Theme

9

Quality

Components & Rules

10

Reusability

Achievement & Enjoyment

9

Variability

Distinctness & Randomness

6

More March of the Ants

Explore related posts about March of the Ants!

Victory Conditions

Defeat the Broodmother

  • Overall Goal Progress 100% 100%

Goals and Milestones

R

Win at least 1 expansion game at the easy difficulty level.

R

Win at least 1 game at the easy difficulty level.

R

Win at least 1 game at the hard difficulty level.

R

Win at least 1 game at the normal difficulty level.

Continue the Conversation

Is there an obvious rule I’ve overlooked in March of the Ants? As always, that’s a distinct possibility. The centipedes effectively took a double turn near the end of a round, since they had another action after I passed. So it’s not that. What other strategies work for you? I’m definitely ready to move onto the expansion at this point. Onward we march!

6 Comments

  1. So, to check:

    – when marching, you move max. five larvae/ants one step (per food payed), or less of them more than one steps (5 steps total)
    – after winning a fight, you lose half the ants you fought with
    – after passing, the centipedes take their extra turn (a lot of times an extra centipede will turn up)

    and then this works? Now I have to try it ☺

    Reply
    • Thanks for the tips, JW! Let me go through these and double-check:

      • Marching: All of the material I have seems to indicate that only 1 food is needed to move up to 5 steps, or more with thorax evolutions.
      • Fighting: I always lose half the ants, rounded down, except when using some head evolutions that reduce casualties.
      • Passing: The final sequence of a turn is my final action, the centipede’s action, my pass action, and the centipede’s final action.

      Aside from the possible issue with marching, it sounds like everything is correct. Where is the reference that it costs 1 food per step? Just curious, as my rulebook and player boards all seem to point to the action itself costing 1 food and not each individual step.

      Thanks! I’m not too upset if I “solved” the base game since I’ve been looking forward to trying out the expansion. That should be a lot of fun, and likely a lot more challenging!

      Reply
  2. No, that’s my bad English. One food for five steps. So either move 5 larvae into play, or move 5 ants to an adjacent tile, or move two ants two tiles further (and then you would have 1 step left).

    I’ve been lucky in the way you’ve described, but I could not use it as a strategy as I’d never have enough ants then. An/or food.

    And you never have centipedes turn up in their final action – then fighting some of your ants?

    Anyway, like I said, I’ll try again.

    Reply
    • No worries, JW! I’ve been playing with the marching rules as stated, so maybe I’ve just been extra lucky.

      Also, I do sometimes end up with a centipede in the meadow after I passed. However, since a new one specifically enters the highest hex without a centipede, I simply leave my ants out of that hex.

      There are times when this does end up creating a contested hex, but it seems to be rare.

      Then again, I might not be playing as intended. That’s where the expansion should add some more elements and make things more interesting. I’m looking forward to learning the rules this upcoming week!

      Good luck the next time you play!

      Reply
  3. Thank fo your post! I didn’t read it before I played The March of the Ants several time solo, winnin each time on everyt difficulty level. I played exactly the way you described (without any suggestions though) – it is just a natural tactics to take.
    I am confused – the solo experience shouldn’t be such easy. I love the theme and the look of this game, but I can’t play it to win always, it’s not funny, at all :'(

    So, I started to think: maybe is it something I do wrong? And I started to look for it.

    I read a few of gameplay descriptions. I noticed ppl differ in some thing, there is some small rule in the general part of the rulebook that says that when the players need to loose some ants after winning the battle “they must still lose a number of ants equal to half the enemy strength, keeping at least 1 ant” . OK so do I need to loose all but one, or do I keep the last one in the hex? (I won the battle so I shouldn’t teoretically loose all of my ants in that hex, do I?)

    Sill I didn’t know how to understand it, so I decided to loose all of them, and I won again!

    Now, I am thinking – maybe I need to loose all those needed ants not only from that hex but in general? From all other hexes until I receive the needed number?

    Reply
    • Thanks for stopping by with an in-depth comment! The solo mode in the base game felt a bit repetitive to me after a short time. I highly recommend taking a look at the expansion, March of the Ants: Minions of the Meadow.

      As for your question regarding losing ants in battle, this is the part of the rulebook that applies:

      The loser loses ants equal to the Army Strength of the winner. The winner loses ants equal to half the Army Strength of the loser (rounded down).

      Lone Survivor – If all of the winner’s ants would be lost, their last ant is not lost.

      You only lose ants from the hex where the battle takes place. Even if this would be more, perhaps because the solo opponent has a very high army strength, you only lose the ants in that hex.

      What about when you fight centipedes? These battles are usually more difficult and important, because centipedes that make it into the Great Tunnel will start to quickly amass victory points. Yet these battles usually cost a lot of ants, so it can be challenging to know exactly when to initiate a battle.

      Feel free to ask other questions, though! I found this solo mode to be straightforward but not too easy to win. Or maybe you’ve just mastered gameplay? Ha! I actually won a few times in a row very handily, thinking I had solved it. Not so! Sometimes it just takes a few more plays to realize that you were getting lucky with the cards. Good luck!

      Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I accept the Privacy Policy

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.