"One thing I learned from talking to other players is not to
confine yourself to the rules as written in this here rulebook. Learn to
think creatively. Learn to think outside the rules. For example, don't
confine your leaders to moving troops, diplomacy or battle assistance
actions alone. Spice them up. One time I was conducting diplomacy in a
region that another player was conducting diplomacy in. I gave orders
for my intel to poison the opposing leader's food such that he would
throw up on the region leader, thus creating a diplomatic disaster. I
called this "Operation George Bush". This action never occured,
but I got the region.
Most GMs have a pretty good sense of humor, and the funnier you make
these things, the better chance of them working. In addition, this gives
the GM something to write about other than city level increases,
shipping allocations, and public works builds.
However, don't make your actions too complicated. There is no better way
to have your actions fail than by making them too complicated. GMs
operate under the principal that if they cannot understand your orders,
then neither can your leaders. It's a fine balancing act to walk between
simplicity and creativity. Much as I would like to tell you some of my
other "actions", I have countries to squash."
--Josh Mehl