Do add your comments/additions to all that follows (just put your name by them so we all know who thinks what):
Reflections on basic strategy (Wyon)
1. Beginners often get caught up in being overly concerned with population expansion- you have to attach at least as much importance to connecting (and preventing your opponent from doing so (which is the same thing)).
2. A good way to block your opponent is to have a young piece (ie with a high number), directly in the line most likely to make a connection
3. Initially a sequence MFF is better than MMF, in the former you can move the middle piece and potentially set up two birthing possibilities. With the latter moving the middle peice can only at best set up one birthing possibility (because females can only give birth once each go).
4. Spend at least as much time working out the gender of peices that have just been born as you do about making moves- it is often very important.
5. If you can keep some life reserve aim to have at least two units if possible. This is far more powerful than only one in reserve (as it enables a winning connecting move that does not die out before the connection counts). Dont get too caught up in having some life in reserve however- it is far more important to establish an early advantage.
6. In general (as well as going for connection - already referred to under 1), it is more important to end up with a larger net number of births (ie greater than your opponent) than with a high number. For example: one birth if your opponent has none is usually better than if you both have two.
7. At all times bear in mind where you are in the move sequence. If your move is directly followed by your birthing then that is the time to make moves that would otherwise be blocked by your opponent before you can give birth. Also work out the next move you will make after the birthing sequence- because your opponent will only be making a birth, not a move before you move again. Conversely if your move is followed by your opponents move (and birth) before you can birth then this it the time to be cautious about how you move (so as not to allow your move to be scuppered by your opponent).
Reflections on advanced strategy.. (Wyon)
1. Keep a look out for the comparatively rare situation in which it is better NOT to give birth immediately on a particular square but to wait until a later go when you know that you will still be able to and that the resulting offspring will be able to live longer on account of having been born a go or more later.
2. Another rare situation to look out for is the one in which the player giving birth first sets up a block on one of their opponent's birthing possibilities as a result of their new offspring.
3. With the larger board (10×10) it becomes necessary to build systems that allow for reproduction to occur naturally as a result of death (rather than just as a result of enabling moves or placements- otherwise there probably wont ever be enough momentum to connect- especially if the pieces initially only have 6 life expectancy or in the random variant).
Jesse has pointed out that the structure MMFFMMFF etc works well for this (so as one peice dies there is always a F and a M on either side of it to provide the next generation. This works well provided:
a) no two pieces next to each other have the same life expectancy (otherwise they make a gap too big when they die b) no female has pieces older peices on both sides of it with the same life expectancy (otherwise she cannot mate with both the males that want her when the pieces next to her die) c) attention is given to topping up the pieces at the edge of the row (or column) so that a connection is eventually sustained.
Obviously it is best to make these sequences in the row or column where you are trying to connect (so red needs to prioritise columns and blue rows), and kinks may need to occur (so the rows/columns wont always be able be to perfectly straight or complete).
Greater reproductive capacity can also be enhanced by having a block with this sequence going both horizantally and vertically eg:
M F F M M F F M
M F F M M F F M
F M M F F M M F
F M M F F M M F
M F F M M F F M
-so you end up with a patchwork quilt of alternating genders in square blocks of four
- if this can be done at the edges then it gets around the problem of edge peices being created through moves or placement. In theory - I think- it should therefore be possible to keep a board of any size completely populated (at the end of the birthing phase and in the non-random versions) indefinitely (the corners being fed by moves in a rotating sequence). Of course this is only going to be possible without - uh - an opponent!
Finally it is good if possible during the phase when you have a move followed by a birth to move any pieces in the array with only one or two turns left that are next to your opponent- otherwise they may invade the line when the piece dies in the next phase before the ones on either side of them can give birth.
I am not suggesting this is a definitive strategy (perhaps just one approach to bear in mind)- note also that with a larger board the pattern can also be made diagonally rather than orthogonally - as the situation demands.
Reflections on the grim reaper picture (Wyon)
Wyon: I am delighted by the background picture (provided by Keith- many thanks are due). It seems to me very apt— most of the time we all carry on playing the game of life as if death isnt there- despite the fact it is staring us in the face!