As part of our rule book sale promotion this week here's a bit of a teaser on Ant strategies we posted on our Yahoo Group AntAttack.
•Always remember, the longer the game lasts the more it tilts to your favor! You have constant new recruits (as long as you still have minimal real-estate to place them on) so don't panic as the army wades through your forces toward the start! The ants' most realistic chance to win happens as the army draws near the queen. Slow and constant attrition to army squads is the key.
•Queen placement is critical. It may seem clever to put the queen near an army entry point thinking "they'll never check that!" If they do, you're in BIG trouble! Unless you feel you REALLY know how your opponent thinks it is always safest to place the queen at the furthest point from army entry.
•CAM (Colony Alert Marker)placement is the second most critical ant strategy. The mere placement of a CAM makes the army player wary of a potential ant appearance. And remember, existing CAM markers can be moved. Oh, and don't let your markers get overrun by the army – - that is simply poor planning.
•Use your "blind" spots on the boards, i.e. intersections, corners and sewer chambers. The one thing the army LOVES to do is use range fire to whittle the ants down – - don't let them! Make them come around corners and into rooms to have line of sight on you, then get in close and devour them!
•Watch the army player make his moves so you recognize mistakes. Making armies retreat is the next best thing to eating them! Army players struggle to keep patient and use range fire, especially as mechanized vehicles become more and more involved. They can often over-reach and create "plugs" on themselves leaving no retreat which works very well for the ants! If they start to bunch up, keep an eye on how the army explains a retreat! Remember, vehicles need proper room to retreat.
•Use any and all markers as intended, when intended, and make the army do the same. This game has been extensively play tested – - the markers are all created for a reason. During test play there were too many instances of players taking short cuts and not using markers, which invariably led to confusion as to who moved what and when they had done so! This is especially true for army players as they start with a lot more pieces so keep track by letting the markers do their job. Every single hit an ant can inflict is critical – - don't let them get away with even a single one; you'll regret it when end play rolls around.
•You must die so others may live. Even though you must let attrition be your mantra this does not mean to sit back in constant retreat. The army player gets to disperse damage you cause throughout his forces. This usually means he saves his "big guns" i.e. distance things like flame throwers and machine guns. You must attack enough so as end game approaches you have a lot of damage on the unimportant pieces! Then, when it is critical he will have to remove these pieces exposing his big stuff. Now the fun begins – - get those last few big guns and the day is yours!
•Fear is your friend. Be sure to remember about "fear factor" for rifle squads. This had a tendency to be overlooked and is a real advantage for the ant so find ways to use it.
gives you the gift of being OK with that. 
