This game was fought basically as a 1-on-1 with me against ph8. Noja was teaching a friend how to play so didn't interfere. Both of the others left and ph8 nuked Noja out at around update 15.
With that nuke ph8 controlled 12 of the 16 available planets, if I gave him time to colonize them. He wasn't paying a lot of attention and underestimated me because of my record (this was only my second game with this empire.) I was therefore able to nuke Muerto and colonize it. With a planet right next to his Home World I quickly built a stargate while sending the rest of my fleet down to nuke his colonization at Noja.
While my fleet was in Noja he moved a fleet over to Muerto to nuke it. Luckily, I had just enough ships left and was able to kill all the ships he had set to nuke. That left the two ships he moved in as support and the one he built as reinforcements the next turn. The two ships I gated in to Muerto were also alive since gated ships arrive after combat takes place.
Here I had a choice. I could play the same game and hope to kill the two ships set to nuke, or I could go for the win. I moved my two ships from Mueoto to his Home World and at the same time gated in an overbuilt fleet. He nuked the planet, but since he didn't build anything else I now had 2 ships in his Home World and 7 more next door to move in as support. He only had the 3 left in Muerto, and couldn't build enough to stop me, so I got the win.
