Execution
The first thing you need to do is make sure you are going last in any given year (except for 5). This may mean outbidding your opponents to choose or just getting the last spot by chance. Now, on your turn you need to know how much energy everyone else has. My friends and I have a rule that if someone asks you, you must tell them how much you have. If you don't play that way, then make sure you keep track of how much everyone has the entire game. This may be difficult but I suggest keeping track with a pen and paper if you have to. Just this information alone is the difference between winning and losing games many times. Ok, make sure you have enough energy at the end of your turn to outbid everyone else. During your turn, take as much property as possible. If the moon or any waters are free, grab them. Take whole continents if you can, just get your men around the board wherever you can and wherever you want (within reason of course... don't break treaties with allies just to get one more territory). That year will end with you vulnerable, but spread far and wide. Bid to go first in the next year. Now that you are going again and nobody has had a chance to retaliate, use your massive amount of reinforcements and energy as you please.
Some Tips for this Maneuver
1. It is best used at the end of years one, two, or three. Of course year five wont work for obvious reasons. Year four is a bad idea as well because it means you are going to be going first in year five. If you've read my other posts you know that that is nearly always a terrible idea. My favorite time to do it is the end of year two. At this point everyone has settle into their main continent but the moon and waters are still likely to be open. Also, if you go for it the first year, you don't yet have enough men to really make it worth it.
2. Don't worry about using your mods in your second turn of the blitz to sure up everything you've taken. Focus on what you strategically think you can keep. It's fine to take half the board for the sake of reaping the benefits once, but you'd be a food to think you can keep it all the rest of the game. So, lets say you've already taken North Am. in year one and it's the end of year two. Making sure you keep enough energy to outbid the others, and assuming the moon and the two adjacent water colonies are still free, grab them up. With that alone you will be getting 26 mods and energy on your next turn. My suggestion now is either use your reinforcements to sure up the moon or North Am. and the waters. The one you leave open will be taken over by your enemies but at least they have to plow through you to get them, and who knows if they will be equipped to do that right away.
3. Making this move is going to make you look like a huge threat. It's likely that the other players will gang up against you, so make plans to defend against that. It's a good idea to get them stuck in some treaty with you prior to your blitz moves. That way you can have extra protection. At all times be talking and convincing the other players that you aren't actually going to use your huge forces against them. Just talk yourself down to look like less of a target. When you can, point out someone else who's in a better strategic position than you... even if they aren't. Remember, the way you manipulate the other players is the key to doing well in this game. Alternately, you can use your huge forces to bully other's into submitting to a treaty or deal that you will be able to arrange. If you have the larger force and the most energy, people think twice before messing with you.
4. Finally, don't go on a spending spree! Use your energy wisely and just because you suddenly have 8 times more than everyone else doesn't mean you shouldn't keep your endgame strategy in mind. You need to conserve to go last in year 5. Going last in year 5 will almost always guarantee a win in this game if you are in any sort of half decent position when you get there. That's much more valuable than getting an extra moon base or something.
Hope this helps. Try it out next time you play and be sure to comment and let us know how it worked for you!
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