Part of tournament http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer?TournamentID=11201

http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=6675859

1. Main Question. What is the best way to play close *intense* fighting games? Are there any general principles/strategies that should be applied. (Besides Safe bonuses)

2.Would you rather have less income and initiative (more armies), or more income but weak position (few/no choke-points, less armies)

3. In the end, are games such as this one decided only by luck? Is there anything you can do to increase your chance of getting lucky?

4. Anything else?

And ofc, thanks for all the helpful, noteworthy and on-topic comments I am sure is going to come!

Hello

Question 1:
- Get last order: I didn't examine this game in detail but for example I see that last turn Andersault ran into a bigger stack in West Russia attacking you second order. This lead to you being able to take the bonus.
- Examine your opponents play: Most players have clear patterns in their play and they seem to be doing their moves over and over again without realizing that you are ripping them off. For example if an opponent is in my bonus then by default (mainly in huge expansion maps like the big Rome map) I usually build many small stacks around him and attack him last order. This prevents him from spreading in my bonus. However if someone analyzes my gameplay he can try to outdelay me and if this isn't possible just sit there without moving. Either way I will get many bad fights then.

Question 2:
More income wins long term and better position / more armies wins short term. If you have the income disadvantage but position advantage you need to push the situation towards an income advantage super fast else you lose. In the end higher income wins games.

Question 3:
If you keep getting last order you can afford getting unlucky / making an unlucky wrong prediction. Sometimes teammates criticise me for making risky attacks but when I know that the opponent isn't outdelaying me I can afford losing a couple more armies with an unlucky / wrong prediction.