TacTix

The strategies outlined here make the non-misere variant of the game straightforward.

The player who takes the last piece loses in the misère play convention, or wins in the non-misère version.

[1] The hexagonal variation of the game, played on a six by six by six board, is called TacTex.

A Non Misere version of TacTix, where the player who makes the last move is the winner, is also playable.

[1] On the 4×4 grid originally proposed by Hein, the second player will always win with correct play (HAKMEM item #74).