I just started playing again and general rule of thumb is that the outposts closest to you are yours. The past 4 games I've played since I've been back people don't seem to understand this concept and I always end up getting only 2 additional territories off the draw. Then once they take my starting land I'm instantly less powerful than them and they just plow me into turtleing.
I message all my neighbors asking for Alliances before the game even starts and very few actually reply. How do I avoid people stealing my territory and teaming against me from the start? 4 games in a row is frustrating...