My little success was on the Goats vills I think; used a lot of nukes taking them and Goats, and Reef/Brady7 + a few others put a lot of support in which got killed. goats was active and put up a bloody good fight; I like the old Turnip boy (I enjoyed playing alongside him) but I took the chance when I could, and did. In the past I enjoyed myself at the expense of Johnoc81, Lupy Lou, Mark21lancs, Simwhit and even one vill of Mr R himself.
So what that I took some Gappy vills when he was inactive; thats part of the fun of TW. Reef took a load off me when I had a couple of less than perfect sitters - rightly so he took advantage of the situation and exploited it. I, and others, did the same with Gappy and I was happy to use my nukes to support others in my tribe. As my learned colleague, Mr Reef, has pointed out to me, on a PM which I don't block - expect on brief periods of pissed off-ness (I'm quite happy to receive PM from anyone) - once he stepped into the game we stopped taking Gappy vills, only one exposed village was lost after the break that was in an impossible position to defend. However this was also due to most my my local nukes losing a large percentage of their strength clearing a load of Gapster's vills up to that point.
Stutzy - you're right that I cant go into Turtle mode to survive as you slowly batter people to pieces - big mistake of mine in the past, but as my ODA change is indicating, I'm learning this lesson and getting back on the front foot and striking back where I can. Also they're just nukes and can be replaced, but in certain areas I have to be careful how I use them as I don't have too much support and my neighbours are also very good at stacking, so I dont want to waste them.
I also dont mind taking internals if it gives me a better position to fight from; I make do with what I've got. ( on this point, Hakushaku, Reef and Simwhit are also good internallers, but I've got no gripe with them on this) If it stops others taking them and giving me a platform to hit back from then I have to do it that way. You guys are good gamers, I suspect better than me, but I'm still in the game, learning and having fun, and the last part is the bit that really matters to me as I have a tough day job, and this game provides me with a change from that.