This really reminded me of one of the old Evad River Confluence FFA games in TA. I remember the advice for that map was that its 'all about diplomacy, dont attack anyone and hope that the other players fight a mutualy destructive war'. Id go one further and say dont even draw attention to yourself, since as this game shows, players will often form loose alliances to take down whomever starts to pull away from pack in terms of economy/army..