Basically my first game of GC i won, i didnt really know what i was doing but i started to pick it up as i played. Expanding slowly i began to take over the whole map and stayed friends with some, enemies with others.
Since then however i seem to lose a lot!! My tactics now are to planet rush, and try to get as many planets initially as i can, the thing is i think this actually stunts your growth. I end up making very little money, or making a loss. Then not being able to research and falling behind. Also because i have grabbed so much land i seem to have a lot of enemies.
Do you guys think it is better to start with just a core few systems, then expand? Or to go for the landgrab and build up slowly? In my current game i managed to turn it around and survive but now there are only 3 of us left, the Drengin who are about 10 times more powerfull then me and my allies the Arceans who are puny like me. We are slowly going to be decimated i can tell!
So what advice would you all give for starting? I play as Terrens by the way.