There seems to be a bit of a format as to how to play these games well in the early rounds, so go look at some successfully players games and frankly completely mimic their opening moves.

By year three or four you're just going to have to rely and trust on your own instincts and see if they serve you well enough. Sometimes it's play a slow and steady defensive game and sometimes it's a sprint to race to readily available 18 before they can break your line.

Look over previous iterations of the format and see what has or has not worked for various powers. You can also check out
https://captainmeme.wordpress.com/
for some advice, mainly focusing on openings.

i just created a france vs austria game and i joined an italy vs germany. i never played any of thoose versions before. any advice?