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Halo, ladies and gents... and all other good people!

If you haven't noticed the aforementioned abreviation before today in your local newspaper then you're either a multi or you've always dreamed of being a multi... or you're just plain ignorant, but that's not very likely... yes, probably one of the first two... But anyway, today I have taken upon myself the enormous task to enlighten you about the glorious art of the PTO and how you can have one in your own backyard... painted in babyblue.

What the heck is a PTO?
Political takeover is a figure or a form of... politicaly taking over other, usualy small, countries in the hope of gaining political medals, gold, dough and other "unfair gains". Thru PTO a usualy small group of nationals of one country take over a whole other country. For the purpose the expectation is to take hold of the latter country's political parties, Congress and eventualy the Country President's position. After this has been accomplished all avenues to the countries coffers are wide open. And not only that. The PTOers are pretty much free to do anything they want in said country. Being that the PTOed countries are small, they have a very small number of voters and to achieve a successful PTO you don't need a lot of votes.

Examples of prime candidates for PTO
1. Denmark - This one is actually pretty hard because they've been in an union with Germany for over a year, and so Denmark as such is perma-wiped. So not really prime estate for PTOers.
2. New Zealand - They have been ruled by Serbs for a long time. Very easy to get CS there if you're connected with the Serbian community, or at least a CoT country. Easy Congress medals.
3. North Korea - Really a dream-PTO-land, as I don't know of a single RL North Korean player. But, too late! Already PTOed by China. Chinese players use North Korea for RW and BH medals. Also a good partner for TP medals for China.
4. Saudi Arabia - Probably the most expensive hardest to get CS in the whole world. The RL rulers of Saudi Arabia have paid good money to the game developers to not allow more than one party in the country. So the Party President controls everything. There can only be one CP candidate, and the country is wiped more often than not, so it's almost impossible to participate in Congress elections. When congress elections are held though, it's a pretty easy medal.
5. and others

How does it start
- Check out the terrain. What's going on in the meta-country, how do elections work, who's THE MAN, economy, enemies and so on
- Securing citizenship. You're going to need one for yourself and some for your PTO buddies. PTO groups are generally very close knit. PTOers only take along their most trusted people in the whole universe. The CSs need to be secure.
- When the PTOers get the desired CS they usually stay quiet, no article writing. No demanding communication with the locals. They pretty much lay low at first, very often selecting local military avatars to blend easily.
- From here the PTOers want to either make or take over a top 5 political party with the first elections. It's usually a smaller party, but big enough to stay in top 5 until the 25th for the Congress elections. Taking over the top party is a grave error, even in a small country. No one going for the top party off the bat has ever succeeded. It's best for the PTOers not to buy votes on this stage as this shouldn't be necessary with good planning. With the so secured top 5 party the PTO crew is ready to go to Congress elections. More than likely they wouldn't get more than one Congressman. In a small country this would probably mean one more CS to give. It's of course given to the next most trusted PTOer out there. And so it begins.



- No active participation in CP elections until the Congress is fully under the PTOers' control. Still usually the PTO will support a weak candidate just for the lulz and to make it harder on the leading candidate.
- When taking over a political party the PTOers would candidate a less known player, not their leader, probably someone who just recently got their CS. All day he would have no more than 3 or 4 votes in the party elections. Then, a few minutes before the date change, the rest of the crew will vote for him. This tactic is almost impregnable if combined with candidates in all 5 top parties. The locals wouldn't be able to know where the PTO will hit and to organize in time. So timing in defending such a move is crucial. The locals should always hold their votes for last. But with a new and unestablished PTO the locals would rarely have the knowledge and expertise to defend that.
- As mentioned above, the PTOed party is now the vehicle for congressional candidates and CP candidates. As soon as the deed is done, the locals will probably notice something is amiss and will start writing accusatory articles and asking for foreign help.
- The PTOers now just have to hold the party and elect more people for Congress each month, which translates to more citizenships to give to their fellows. Now the PTO progresses.



What then
The PTOers at this stage have their work cut out for them. They just have to stay tight. No arguments in the group, no "misunderstandings". When one of the group becomes CP, this is great. The PTOers can steal all they want. Getting this far also means that the PTOers are prohibited from making multies. This would be the easiest and stupidest way for a PTOer to get banned.
All that's left is to hold control of Congress, bring more people in, eventually take over more parties. And when the PTOers have managed to elect their man for CP for several term, the PTO has succeeded!





So, finally
The PTOers now have everything - a whole country! The goal is to steal everything and that all leading members of the PTO crew get a CP medal each. The PTOers get richer and richer and the aborigenes slowly fade away!

Congratulations, PTO, you've made it!

Truly yours:
Prinz Charming