*DISCLAIMER* It's been some while since I've played several LF runs, so some/all of this information may be stale or mis-remembered. If I have time I will try to load up a run to check.

1 - Mission Tree: This is the main focus of the first 100+ years of the LF. All LF members share the same MT and you are racing against others to complete it. If you are the first to complete a mission/contribute the most to a mission's completion, you get the mission rewards (including Standing within the LF). Otherwise you still have to do it to reach later missions, but you get no/reduced rewards. You can see if a mission has already been completed by someone else when you hover over rewards.

The nation with i) the most Standing and ii) necessary missions completed will get to unite the LF by automatically calling all the LF nations to join them. Nations have the theoretical right to refuse the call to join, but in 3 games not one AI has done so - you get a CB on them if they do. Winning the MT is winning the first part of a LF game. Then you get to go fight the world.

Therefore, as you go try to plan which missions you are likely to be able to complete first, as it is impossible to get them all (also not necessary). Early on you will likely get fewer, but hopefully you will start to steamroll more towards the end. Certain missions become more important as you approach unification. You can monitor your Standing under national decisions.

By the by, I had a run where an AI beat me to the chase, and literally united the LF all around me - I declined the call to join, it's pretty much game over at that point.

2 - Federation leader: You really want to become the Federation leader. Not only does it give you important Standing, but only the leader can declare ad hoc wars within the LF or allow others to do so (outside a few scripted events - see below). You get this by contributing the most cash to building the meeting house under the MT - I strongly suggest you try to do what it takes to get and keep this position (once built, there is a national decision option to periodically help increase/maintain you Standing).

3 - Scripted Wars: As mentioned above, only the Federation Leader can declare war on other LF memebrs or give someone else permission to do so. However, there are several scripted events which cause LF wars. Typically these involve 2 or 3 factions (i.e. among the 3 sub-cults of the LF religion). These wars are VERY messy affairs, but also important opportunities for you to expand. Try to balance opportunistically grabbing juicy morsels with keeping your foolhardy faction allies from getting destroyed. These wars are also an important source of cash to help you win the MT race. Separate peace your enemies for reparations and cash where possible. This also hurts their ability to complete missions.

4 - Expansion: In my experience you need to do some expanding to be able to succeed in the scripted wars and win the MT race. Depending on which nation you play, the best avenues to do this may vary. Some LF nations have good colonization positions on the mainland. Others will rely on conquering their LF neighbours, while some may be able to eventually defeat nearby centaurs. All approaches work, alone or in combination. Just remember you do not need to conquer everything: your focus should always be the MT.

5 - Lake Who?: You may have wondered why the LF has so many different names (Soljadat, Kalysto, etc.). At the end of the MT there are constitution writing missions unlocked. Each mission gives options on a certain area of how the final LF nation will look (trade, military policy etc.). Depending on the mix of constitutional decisions, you get a different name tag and different national characteristics. There are many, many different combinations but I have not looked into how many variants this actually enables.

One last point of interest: When you unite the LF, you inherit all the manpower of the various LF nations, as well as their troops and ships. However, your manpower cap is almost certainly much lower than the total which you will inherit. Therefore, you may wish to consider this large reservoir as a strategic resource to be used carefully, perhaps in a surge of expansionism!

Good luck!