Matabele Difficulty

[MinqApoc]

Am i missing some important strategy or are the matabele levels harder than the other missions? Even on medium difficulty?

[EvilNecroid]

they can be a bit tricky.

1. to start off with try to avoid most things when u can.
2. avoid the termite big soldiers. they r stronger then they look.
3. i always try to keep a balance of soldiers and medics.
4. if u need more ants fast and dont have much food, spam a few medics because they cost less. just make sure u catch up in soldier numbers after that.
5. keep switching between termite nest for food.
6. kill those lizards fast on the 1st map but feel free to ignore them on the 2nd map.
7. when a nest is cleared out on the 2nd map. theres usually some food left behind for u to go get.
8. on the 3rd map steal patches of food from the nest thats being attacked.

not sure if any of this helps.

[bznessman]

What EvilNecroid said. I initially focused on growing my soldiers which I later found was my problem. The medics bringing the dead back to base for revival while I hatched more quickly increased my army. I sometimes when back to a battlefield just to get more of my dead to further increase my army for free.

In addition to his #8, I found that raiding the raiders worked very well. Let the termites do the initial fighting with the invaders then move in to kill when the raiders are leaving with the spoils. They are weakened and they are carrying food.

Since termite warriors start coming the second you go after the workers, it can be tough to disengage. That usually means leaving food behind. A decent sized group of workers following your army with the sole task/purpose of gathering dead termites makes for a good cleanup crew that can do a quick grab and go while a couple soldiers are sacrificed, holding back the termite warriors.

[EvilNecroid]

9. click the button to turn off ur ants attack so u can grab up dead termites and run away faster.

[Griffvador]

ngl I found those easy (apart from challenge 5.1) but I still havent beaten challenge 4.2 (the one where you can kill the dragon fly)

[{NLR} C´est Moi ;D]

Haven't tried them yet, but considering they're the final missions, before the final story segment thingy, it makes sense they'd be harder than the earlier missions.

[Daliena]

Matabele definitely felt like the most difficult ones to me. Not the least because they get such nasty predators on their maps too, and can't even really feed on them to replenish their losses, while also having a playstyle that demands they constantly go out and raid, having to try and dodge said predators on the way.

Only advice/thought I can offer that hasn't been said by others is that timing can be key when attacking termites. Try to catch as many of them all at once as you can instead of having a trickle of a few at a time, so you can butcher a bunch then run away before the termite warriors arrive. It can be the difference between 1-200-ish food and much, much more - which you need since Matabele are so expensive.

[FiddyTrickPony]

Interesting, personally I found the Matabele missions to be no more difficult than others -- possibly a bit easier. The main reason being that termites are such hardy food sources. One good raid and you can spawn like 5-6 new soldiers, and the soldiers are strong. Before you know it, you have a huge and strong army.

I think the key is to group your earlier squads up near where you plan to raid, then do a quick raid, kill about 10 termites and then run away with the food before reinforcements arrive. Repeating this process a few times, you'll quickly bulk up soldiers and soon be able to stand against reinforcements, farming termites as desired.

I often found myself defending the termite mounds from other raids in order to keep that tasty food coming.

[Actoue]

I have more troubles on first maps in the story than in the last ones to be honest.

The trick that worked for me with Matabele is to target termites workers when they are foraging, and immediatly retreat when their soldiers come to their defense. Switch nest, then focus on underground until soldiers go back.
For the second mission I did that until the raiders came to clear a third nest, then cut back the ennemies that were bringing back food and hold my ground there.

And as an above comment already adviced, on the third level I foraged through the huge food deposit nearby the other nest that were assieged.

[Trent]

Anyone else find the middle Termite nest to be a death trap? Every time I tried to raid that one, my ants would get drawn down the path to the termite foraging area and the termite soldiers would come in from behind, boxing them in. Even when I tried to pull them back early or turn off their attacking, I still lost too many.

My first victory on that map came when I just stuck to the left and right mounds.