Hi. I've played loads of these games and I thought I had them sussed! But I've been stuck on "getting strategic" for days now. I can't win. I get three or four areas, start building armies, block an obvious danger, begin to move out with 20 or 30 armies - and then, from about three directions at once, the AI appears with 80 odd armies and annihilates me in two rounds. I can't see how it can even be possible, mathematically. The AI just can't have had enough time, in 6 or 7 rounds, to build up more than twice the number of armies that I have got.
I'd be grateful for any hints. Cheers.

Sounds like you're not expanding fast enough. You want to gobble up easy income quick, try going for the faster small +3 and +4 bonuses first.

Also you can use history to see how the AI got their armies, once the game is over. You can prove to yourself that it's mathematically possible.

sounds like me in 2017

it took me 100 to 150 tries and maybe 4 months. t
how i did it was to have picks close to the ai and the ai prefer attacking neuturals so i can overrun ai in 9 turns

Thanks guys - I'll keep at it then - appreciate your help. :-)

There is a funny trick.
If you spam 1 troop transfers and then attack every adjected enemy territory with one troop, there is a good chance that you will get some of the enemy's territories with that 1 troop attacks. This works, because the enemy will make attacks from the territory. He will very likely leave 0 troops on the territory after the attacks are done. If you attack the territory after he does the attacks, even 1 troop is enough to get the territory. More about move order: https://www.warzone.com/wiki/Move_Order

Bonus trick: if you have free troops, double amount of troops next to big enemy stacks. No matter how big the stack is, this strategy will prevent the AI from taking all but one adjected territory.

Looks like someone found out about delaying :)
Keep at it and you'll find more and more of these tactics.