Aug 17th 2014, 19:22:55
The bottomfeeding technique. Which is fine for a Commie Indy but is no good for a techer (although I have noticed one or two of the better known current techers do seem content to do a bit of it). The traditional view was that the techer could only afford a few turns spent grabbing and hence should seek more substantial gains from each hit.
I agree with you that, having got a Spy report, it pays to look at the potential target to check out the risk of getting crushed in retaliation. I always check out cash on hand first. Someone with a whole bunch of cash is a very dangerous target to hit. But, as you say, a lot of turns is also a danger sign. Ideally you want to hit at a time when you have turns in hand and the target has just finished using up all their available turns. This gives you time to develop the grabbed land, to make use of it and, sometimes, you will move so far forward that you outrun the target's ability to catch you up and hit back. My Spy reports show zero turns quite suspiciously often so I am not 100% sure there may not be a glitch.
Another thing I look at is the configuration of the country. If it is a mess I am encouraged; if it is a neat looking country closely following the player's strat then I may well be up against a veteran.