Strategies/Tactics I use:
1) develop a base along an edge as quick as possible, a peninsula is best
2) the base should be no less than 4, but optimally about 6 or 7 territories - usually with 5 or more territories held for a while, even if you don't finish in the top three, your dominance will be decent and you don't risk losing too many points
3) once you have a base, don't attack unless you have a distinct advantage, just keep building until you have full stacks of 8 on all territories
4) don't attack too many different opponents after the initial sorting out process. if you can afford to stick to one opponent, that is best
5) if no one else is gaining too much advantage in the game, and no one is making you their primary target, save up until you have at least 20 extra dice - then try to deal multiple attacks on the same opponent all in one turn - doing this against agressive opponents usually pays off, because they overreact and make mistakes
6) always pay attention to who has the most dice, not the most territories

With the dominance system I see situations (early/mid-game) where any two people can take out the leader yet no pair is willing to attack the leader. So keep an eye out for when being stupid aggressive will cause everyone to leave you alone and hand you first place.

I notice there is a lot of hubbub early in the game whenever (and it always happens) someone gets a seven stack or something near that value. Other players seem intimidated, and so, I 'd say hold your ground when stuck next to a biggie, and don't run.

It also helps to connect slowly early on tin the game, because then you can gradually build your stacks and end up with a formidable collection of territories once you do connect.

*Hold your ground because some players aren't as smart as others and learn that they can lose an 8 v4 at key times (But don't always count on it)

My biggest piece of advice would be to not make any even or +1 dice advantages until much later in the game, or if its vital to your survival.

It's called strategery!

heh, Noel..

you give really good advice in your list, but I happen to personally disagree with a lot of it.

1 - peninsulas are bad because they offer limited tactics of outward progression / and alliances. If someone borders you and they have you behind them in a peninsula, they know you are coming out so you have a natural enemy. If you are out in the map on an edge, people think twice before starting a potentially long, drawn out war.
2, lands dont really matter so much as potential lands and the ability to snip others. People are way too scared to snip in this game for fear it wont hold and they will go out 7th. But more often than not an early cut on someone that is risky can turn a 4th place finish into a convincing 1st.
3, you GOT to attack
4, pick on anyone and everyone, any land is a land added
5, +dice are only necessary if you are a string empire, other than that reserves are not worth holding onto. I'd rather have a land in my possession than +14 dice.
6, territories matter a lot - people tend to ignore the most territories because they are thin and figure they will get chewed by others... then no one does it and the person spawns a 5 stack up front a line from the border and it defends all the lands.


that said - your advice is overall, generally sound. I just personally tweak things as I see fit. These are definitely good strategies, I just have different ones.

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Grun,

I bow to your high score. No doubt your strategies have worked well for you. I guess that it shows that multiple strategies can be successful. I've done much better, and have been much more consistent since I started implementing the strategies I outlined. Of course, a bad start makes it impossible to implement what I outlined earlier.

don't bow to nothing, in a few days ill be off the face of the map :)

Your strategies are good, and I have employed them, often. There are just other strategies and nuances to the game as well, especially reading others and their intentions. It is impossible to win every game by overpowering EVERYONE else. But the one thing you said that I disagreed with somewhat was that you should focus on one foe. I think when you do that, people have a higher likelyhood to HATE your guts since you are singling them out and in return if they get a lucky 8stack resupply or something they might completely throw it at you, whereas they might otherwise take just a land or two then consolidate their gains.

and then there's luck, which we all know makes up for 99% of the game =P