I guess I'm prudent in that I never START a war, and I'm doing Turk Late GA right now, so I've gone really slowly on conquest in favour of trade and development. I also try to avoid "game" loopholes that seem unrealistic, so don't do too much mobbing with agents. But bribery is good when you have the cash... I had William Wallace subduing Scotland for the English, once!

Rebels are just asking for it, but allies I respect until they stab me in the back. I keep borders strong, so anyone who goes for me will exhaust themselves on assaults, lose influence, collapse into civil war - THEN I counter attack, and keep some territory for the effort. Most of my disasters, both tactically and strategically, have been due to overstretching my forces or resources, so I try to resist the temptation.

But once the conditions for attack are met, then blitzkrieg and pillage, certainly.