[JenMax]

Possum,

In the tourney, my start position was average, as near as I can tell. I did start very close to another player empire. Since the rules for the first round included a non ranked advancement for TWO of the four players, it made sense to offer a full partnership and full cooperation in tech, trading, etc ASAP in the game. The first player I met also saw this wisdom. So an average start position was enhanced by a good ally, almost from the beginning.