How to handle early game(MP) of EA Agartha ?

[Nix]

Currently playing EA Agartha in MP, at about turn 22...

To be honest, I haven't built a single Agarthan soldier since the beginning of the game. I just have a couple teams of Troglodytes walking about, carving me an empire - they haven't lost a single battle against indies - while I work my Order-3 and Magic-3 scales to research as fast as I can. I've been lucky though: no one has attacked me yet, I started with my "back to the wall" so to speak, and I took advantage of an early way between Marverni and Helheim to section off a large part of Marverni while Helheim besieged their capital.

Since no one's been bothering me, I've had all the time necessary to reach my real objective: researching Blade Wind, the Rhuax and Barathrus Pacts, and Summon Umbral. The masses of Trogs I've gathered aren't to be despised, either. Blesses aren't really part of my strategy - I only have E4 and D4.