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Beetle

The Beetle

The Beetle may be very slow, but used in the right place at the right time it can be very powerful indeed. Here are some examples:


Black is about to win

Example 1)

The white Queen Bee is almost completely surrounded. Black's Grasshoppers stop the white Soldier Ant from moving (see the 'Freedom to Move' rule). The black Beetle not only stops the white Grasshopper underneath it from moving, it can also win the game for Black by jumping into the empty space next to White's Queen Bee. There is nothing White can do to stop a black win in this situation.



White's Beetle is in the right place

Example 2)

stack of 3 pieces The situation is the same as above, except that White had the foresight to place its own Beetle next to its Grasshopper earlier on in the game. It can now climb on top of the black Beetle, thus stopping it from being able to move.

NB: When a Beetle sits on top of one or more pieces, you cannot move the entire stack. Only the topmost Beetle is able to move.


Please remember that the Beetle can only ever move one space at a time, whether it is on top of the Hive or not. It cannot jump over other pieces in one move.