Front Line

Information
Name	Front Line
Categories	Story Documentary
Environment	Rainforest
Player species	Leafcutter ant
Player units	Leafcutter ant minor Leafcutter ant media Leafcutter ant major (either)
Surface	Yes
Features	Challenge mode Titans Circadian rhythm

When an army is on the march, everything is on the menu!
Lurking amongst the vegetation, insidious flies are waiting to lay their eggs. (challenge)

Objectives

• Push the army ants back.

Rewards

• Base value: 6 territory, 475 food, 17 Royal Jelly

• Difficulty bonus: 300%/ 325%/ 350%/ 380%/ 420%

• First-time bonus: + 1400%

• Challenge bonus: + 100%

• Completion bonus: + 200%

• New game plus bonus: + 40% x plus number

Settings

Your leafcutter ant colony must repel an advancing swarm of army ants. Your nest is located to the east of the army ant swarm. Nest entrance has already been excavated.

The mission starts at night.

The forest floor is covered with harvestable saplings. They don't regenerate.

You must choose either taunt or stun majors before playing the mission. You start with 7 minor brood tiles and 7 media brood tiles.

Notable enemies

Other enemies are on the same side and are hostile to the ants.

Blue rove beetles, small whip spiders, and small velvet worms inhabit in your nest.

Surface enemies don't invade your nest. On later days, they fight among themselves to keep their own number in check.

Harvestmen, spiny devil bush crickets and velvet worms roam the forest floor all day.

Jumping spiders and leaf-mimic praying mantises only appear on the surface during the day.

Blue rove beetles and large whip spiders only appear on the surface at night.

Titan

The size-level 1/ 1/ 1/ 2/ 3 huge whip spider hides under a log during the day and only comes out at night. It doesn't come out before the fourth night on easy, medium and hard, and before the third night onward on extreme.

Army ant

Army ants only appear during the day. The progress bar appears on the screen along with them to indicate their movement. Army ants move along the vertical lanes and gather any food on the way. Majors take the lead and stand guard at the intersections.

The progress bar extends quickly to the right over time, regardless of the number of army ants on the map. It still moves slowly at night despite not being on the screen.

Army ants move eastward each time the progress bar goes above a threshold and eventually invade your nest at the end. Army ants retreat to the previous lane when the progress bar goes below a threshold.

You must eliminate army ants yourself to make the progress bar retract. You win when it is entirely depleted.

Scouting groups occasionally appear on empty lanes. They only consist of army ant mediae. If they discover your ants, they will run back to the spawners to call for reinforcement. Extra army ants arrive at the noted location without affecting the progress bar.

Challenge

Phorid flies appears every 6 minutes 30 seconds at specific locations on the surface.

• 

  Phorid flies

Achievements

Achievements
Icons	Name	Requirements
	Front Line	Beat the mission on designated difficulty.
	Quick March	Beat the mission before the 2nd night. (medium)
	Shoot the Messenger	Beat the mission without letting army ant scouts report back to their colony. (hard)
	Workforce	Beat the mission without buidling any major brood tiles. (extreme)
	Whip Lash	Remove the huge whip spider before the third day then beat the mission. (impossible)
	Sitting Duck	Beat the mission without upgrading any brood tiles to mission 3. (challenge)
	Meticulous Harvest	Gather all leaves on the map then beat the mission. (impossible - challenge)

Trivia

• In real life, whip spiders usually fight for mating right by circling and probing each other with their pedipalps. This unique animation can be seen only in this mission when whip spiders confront each other on the surface.

Minimaps

• 

  Surface

• 

  Underground