[BkWyrm]

Take all the provinces bordering my keep.

Take stock of dominion to determine direction of closest rival.

Look for any viable chokepoints.

At this point it depends on the size of the game. I tend to start a little conservative and head towards provinces that show little indication of nearby rivals unless there is a nice chokepoint toward the rival Dominion candles. In this case I'll grab the chokepoint. (I'll always send a scout or two toward the rival Dominion candles) I haven't played many games yet or tried out all the starting races, but I tend to methodically make small city states by throwing up more keeps in likely provinces and grabbing all the bordering provinces. By the time I get my second keep running on full admin I've usually located at least a couple of rivals and can then decide on a method of attack.