Is it possible to succeed in Guild Trade War?

Up until today, I thought the cross-server (C.S.) event Guild Trade War just wasn't for me. After all, the people who always win it seem to have retainers with earnings of 2.5 billion and, at the moment, I've just finally made it to 230 million. But, I discovered some things by experimenting and am currently sitting at the 3rd spot. I may get knocked out by the end, but there are some things you can do to survive!

Firstly, there are three ways to earn points: 

Hunt. Someone either has to post a hunting order OR you can post one yourself if you have a Hunt Order. I *did* have one this last time that I had earned in some previous event. Otherwise, I think the only way you can get them is by topping up and acquiring at least 98 VIP exp in one day. The best thing to do is to keep an eye out for other people posting them, but they go f-a-s-t, so you have to jump in quickly.

Fight. The easiest and most obvious way to earn points is to do the Fight option with all of your retainers (see a hint about this down below). You can only use each retainer 3 times a day.

Challenge. If you have challenge vouchers (the yellow and red ticket looking things or advanced challenge vouchers (the red ticket) you can also use them for additional fights. The easiest way to use them is to go through your Log and counterattack people who have attacked you or just challenge people in the notices. You can get a hint at their strength by visiting them first if you want.

So, here are a few further tips, some of which I wish I had figured out this morning instead of after I'd done most of my battles for the day...

• Save your challenge vouchers for this event. I had a number of them that I'd earned in past events and maybe even picked up during top ups. 
• For EVERY fight or challenge, be sure to fully incentivise your retainers if you can afford it! You can temporarily increase their earnings over 40% for each battle by spending some coin. In this way, even poor lowly Teamaster Kang can make a difference.
• Be careful who you challenge as some guilds really stick together. Someone in S14 Ur guild attacked me repeatedly and so I challenged back...and then it seems like half their guild jumped in! You'll get to know which are the guilds to avoid (I've noticed Ur and EVIL in particular).

If you have any other tips or hints you've discovered for this event, please add them in comments!