Grow A Colony Follow, Scavenge, Attack Explained

In Grow A Colony, you are the queen, but your AI ants only shine when troop orders are correct. The three core modes — Follow, Scavenge, and Attack — decide whether food flows, nests get guarded, or wars succeed. Bad order habits cause most “my ants are stupid” complaints. This guide goes deeper than Controls by showing phase-by-phase order plans for economy, digs, Queen Bee raids, and War and PvP.

Order definitions

Follow

Ants stay near the queen or rally point. Use Follow to regroup after fights, escort the queen while digging, or pause chaos before reassigning roles. Follow is also the panic button when food crashes — pull everyone home, then send Workers back to Scavenge.

Scavenge

Primarily for Workers collecting food pickups (and related gather tasks). Scavenge is your economy heartbeat. Leaving Workers on Attack starves the colony; leaving Majors on Scavenge wastes combat potential. Pair Scavenge with water checks from Food and Water.

Attack

Fighters engage bugs, creatures, bosses, or enemy ants. Attack without a food buffer is how beginners lose wars. Use Attack in short windows, then return survivors to Follow and refill with Scavenge Workers.

Early-game order plan (first hour)

1. Hatch Workers via Eggs and Ants.
2. Set Workers to Scavenge immediately.
3. Keep the queen moving between pickups; use Follow briefly when digging the first chamber (Dig and Build).
4. Add one Major on Follow until you clear a safe bug pack, then flip that Major to Attack for the fight only.
5. After the clear, Majors → Follow, Workers → Scavenge.

This matches the Early Game Build and avoids Beginner Mistakes.

Mid-game: juggling digs and bugs

When the nest has storage and a choke:

• Majority Workers stay on Scavenge.
• A small Follow squad guards the queen during dig expansions.
• Majors/Drones pulse Attack on bug routes listed in Beat Bugs and Bosses.
• After each pulse, reset orders — never leave Attack overnight while you AFK.

Spend Skill Tree points that improve gather or combat efficiency using Skill Tree so each order window yields more.

Queen Bee raid order script

Raids punish messy orders. Suggested sequence:

1. Fill food and water (How to Get Food).
2. Rally on Follow near a prepared tunnel mouth.
3. Flip combat ants to Attack as the Queen Bee engages.
4. Keep a Worker Scavenge team running if the raid is long — empty storage mid-raid collapses the attempt.
5. On success or retreat, Follow → count losses → Scavenge to rebuild eggs.

Full prep lives on Queen Bee Raid.

PvP and Declare War orders

Before war:

• Scavenge until buffers are thick.
• Follow to assemble Majors/Drones at the choke.
• Attack only when you commit; spam Attack across the map invites counter-raids.

After war, immediately Follow survivors and Scavenge hard. Read War and PvP for declare/call-off timing and Combat Build for roster ratios.

Order mistakes checklist

Bad habit	Result	Fix
All Attack always	Starvation	Workers → Scavenge
Never Follow	Scattered troops	Rally before digs/raids
Majors on Scavenge	Slow clears	Attack pulses only
No reset after fight	Map wandering	Follow then Scavenge

Scripts and Smart Troops

Third-party tools advertise Smart Troops (Attack/Scavenge/Follow automation). They can ban accounts and still fail after patches. Learn manual orders first; if you research tools anyway, see Scripts, Auto Farm, and Combat ESP.

Practice drill (10 minutes)

1. Claim Daily Rewards.
2. Scavenge for three minutes.
3. Follow for dig one tile.
4. Attack one bug group.
5. Follow → Scavenge refill.

Repeat until switching feels automatic. Then scale into mid-game with Mid-Game Build and Egg Priority.

Troop orders are not a side menu — they are the difference between a living colony and a hungry grave. Master the three modes, and every other Grow A Colony guide becomes easier to execute.