I don't know much about Morabaraba strategy; I know the rules well enough, but I'm by no means an expert player. However, these are the things I look out for:

• Mobility is an advantage - you can easily lose if your pieces get cramped up. Controlling of the middle square probably allows you to have a disproportionate influence on mobility. AHEM measures mobility by awarding a bonus for each piece which has empty neighbours
• Grouping your pieces and fragmenting the enemy's pieces increases your ability to implement powerful tactics
• Notwithstanding the benefits of grouping your pieces, if they're massed too close together your opponent may be able to surround you and "cut off your air supply" by making it impossible for you to move. In chess this is Stalemate and a draw - in Morabaraba, you lose!
• It's grand if you can get two adjoining mills, with one cow shuffling back and forth and shooting a cow each move (although note that the Generally Accepted Rules have been updated to ban this practice, called "machine gunning", by requiring you to interpose another move; eliminating this from the game requires means that winning a game from slight advantage can requie more subtlety!)

If you know any other strategic considerations, email me and I'll post them here.

Morabaraba Home