Obviously, the more energy you control, the more turns you get in a round. Collect as much as you can!
Determine as quickly as possible if your gameplay style is better served by an offensive or defensive tact. If offensive, get Offensive hubs out first so you can strike your opponent before you get into their range. If Defensive, spend your first few turn to install Shields and Anti-Air so those early attacks don't get through to the important parts of your network.
Until you learn how far the hubs can "throw" components, consider throwing a 1-point Bomb to get a feel for the distance before you chuck that 7-point energy collector at that energy pool way off in the distance.
When throwing energy collectors at energy pools, it is not always the best move to land it directly in the center. If you can get it well off to one side, another hub may be able to throw another collector at that same pool, and you can get double the energy from it.
On the other hand, if you are trying to deny your opponent access to an energy pool, the center of the pool might be exactly where you want your collector to land.
Remember that Anti-Air nodes require one action of downtime to reload after having been fired. Therefore, consider deploying two nodes nearby important units, so one is always ready to fire while the other is recovering.
Crawlers can, once they have landed, scuttle beneath anti-air sensors and shields. They're expensive, but they're the best way to open up a vulnerable area on a well-entrenched player.
Another good way to take out a shield momentarily is to throw an EMP so that it lands just outside of the shield's range. The EMP has a longer range than the shield, so when it goes up, it should take the shield generator with it, knocking it out for a full turn. Good thing to keep in mind when you have a few extra energy points at the end of a turn and your opponents have all run dry!
When playing with Fog Of War turned on, note that Towers have better armor, but require being connected to the network with a cord, whereas Balloons are free-floating, but will explode at the slightest touch.
Don't be afraid, as a game progresses, to use Reclaimers to gather extra energy by recycling parts of your network you no longer need. It might be enough to allow you that one extra shot you need to win!
