A planned battle state is easy to recognize - It's a purple state, in which you have invested in, and your opponent has invested in. Usually they contain a fair amount of delegates, and winning or losing one is game changing.


The tell signs:
Performing multiple speeches, creating ads or putting political officials into the state means they are investing in it. Just because they upgrade their HQ to level 3 in that state does not mean they're going to invest in it, neither does fundraising.

Just because a republican comes to California to fundraise, or construct a building, doesn't mean they're going to spend a single cent on winning it. In fact, it is often a terrible idea for Republicans to try to take California, unless they're in a spot where the enemy is wasting their time.

Likewise, if a democrat puts up a base in Texas, doesn't mean they're going to put effort into taking it.

Contest - or ignore?

Depending on how early you are in the game, it may be wise to boycott a state completely if your enemy plops down several TV ads in the state, for example. The likelyhood that you'll have an easier time in an almost as valuable state is more than likely. Changing your focus means your opponent just wasted tons of money on ads in a state that you're not even going to contest, which is perfect.

What to do when contesting:

Feel the state out - Who has the highest score on the three most important issues? If its your opponent, either increase your score, decrease theirs, or you can attack your opponents' awareness in that state. Stack political officials in the state - he can't fix them all.

Remember, the combination of political officials is either attack their awareness OR their score, doing both is a waste. Your opponents' score will not matter if the poulation is not aware of their issues.

Use intimidators, but remember to watch out for other political officials that raises awareness. If they have a lot of officials that raises awareness in a state, switch intimidators with score changing officials. If you're lucky, your opponent will not notice that your intimidators have moved and they will just stand there in a 100% awareness state being useless.

Warning: A common strategy I've used a lot is to plant doctors and smearers in states I don't want to invest in, but want to deter my opponent from investing in. Since they don't do anything over time and always give the same bonus no matter how long they've been there, you can change their position at the very last round and win those states for free. Just make sure that you're not over investing in doctors and smearers in a battle state, when you can bring in the needed amount from your less important states.

An incidental battle state is a purple state in which your opponent has most likely never, or very rarely interacted with. Their score comes either from start bias, national awareness or other sources.

The point is, these battle states are very important, as they can win you the game with little extra effort. Flying to them regularly when your awareness is not 100% in them is a good idea, as it increases your awareness in those states. Don't waste too much time on them right away, just make sure they are in your favour.

Most likely, you want to follow some kind of plan, as focusing too much on the small states can also cost you the game. I like to follow the general plan to win majority vote, by only going after states that have a republican start bias, and some democratic states to tip the scale.

The good thing about incidental battle states is that your opponent might ignore them, and you will get free electoral votes without much effort. A planned California or Texas battle state takes much more effort for less votes than you get from these states together, and that is why they are good.

What to do with an incidental battle state:

Declare them yours by investing in one or max two political officials and put them there early. This will make your opponent think twice before trying to convert it, once it turns a deep red or blue. Once they aren't looking anymore, send the officials to the battle states to join the fray. If you do this with doctors or smearers, you can even wait to the very last round before sending them to the battle states if you really need them. Just remember where you put them.