[Propain]

If you get beat alot online its because of intense cheating. If your problem is offline then 1.sotudy as much as possible in the library 2. build many towns so you can get more Universities and more of thoses old fellas studying therefore allowing you to advance more cause ya need alot of thoses little blue books in the end. 3. build 5 farms per city as soon as you can and 1 market to sell some of your surplus lumber and food . working the market is so important when ya start building your army cause by then you probly have lots of extra food/lumber. 4. make sure ya have full crews working your mountains. 5 . if ya get population limits and ya have plenty of food/lumber being produced then ya can transfer your labors to army by clicking on that fire thingy or just kill them. Hope this helps . I dont have it installed right now so I cant check for proper terminology but best of luck eh

bob

edit: dont worry so much aboot the armys at the start. youll get a feeling on when its time. they cost alot and prevent you from more improtant stuff.