Heyo! Derps here; founder of the F&E faction. I was too busy running around during N-Day itself to pop in here, but there's some stuff I'd like to say, I guess.
First of all, hoo boy. This time around was intense. Going in, I started with the premise of striking out on my own, to see exactly what one person, working alone, could be capable of. The results were, as one can see, not bad. Fifth place overall, and, courtesy of some number-crunching from [nation=short]Mount Seymour[/nation] of Forest, the second-highest ratio of points earned to nations participating.
In the end, the goal of a one-person-faction broke down a little, as nations started attaching to the faction(I initially had it restricted to residents of the passworded F&E faction, but removed those restrictions as the process of moving additional puppets into the region became too slow for my liking.), and later, some external shielding from people not formally associated with F&E- Shoutouts to [nation=short]Liliarchy[/nation], by the way, for providing much of that shelter- but the bulk of the faction's activity was concentrated on myself throughout.
Now, let's talk strategy. Throughout N-Day, my plan had three parts. First, a drawn-out stretch where virtually no nukes were fired. From experience in last N-Day, it was fairly clear that early front-runners often ended up getting targeted, and soon find themselves battered, if not outright destroyed. With only one person at the reins, it was clear that I was not going to be able to shield nuclear barrages in any significant amount. Thus, the second part: Eschewing shielding entirely and focusing solely on nuke production. With the initial isolation, and quick buildup of arms, I eventually found myself with the largest stockpile of nukes in the game, at one point outstripping the Augustines by more than 12,000 nukes. This dominance in arms production helped with the third part: searching for any and all alliances and non-aggression pacts I could find. The large arms stockpile made such pacts easy to find, despite my sub-par ranking at that point; hovering in the 70s.
Eventually, I was in a position good enough to start working, with around 7 hours left in the event. As per the various pacts, I left the major players alone, focusing on smaller factions, usually ranging from 10-30 nations. Without as much of an established bank of shields protecting them, it was the least risky and most efficient way of collecting points. Things continued like this throughout the rest of the event, with my position in the top 10 remaining uncontested for the duration.
So, closing thoughts. This was fun. Seeing a single player compete with larger, organised groups and stand their ground was exhilarating. Nonetheless, I wouldn't do it again. Without any others to fall back on, I was more or less in action throughout the entire N-Day event, and my sleep patterns likely suffered as a result. But it was fun! And in the end, that's all that really matters, I guess.
