strategies

It is crucial that you build up fast. Keep producing villagers and build a Barracks first, together with Houses and another Stone Age building - Docks if you are playing on a water map. Upgrade as soon as possible; build more Houses and a few Barracks to get a lot of Clubmen. These guys will be your first scouts. Send them into any part of the map. Do not forget to build a Granary and a Storage pit while upgrading. You should have 12 houses (for 50 units) after the Stone Age.

At the Tool Age, the buildings you need are Stables and a Market. Get some Scouts, build some Towers (while getting more and more villagers), then upgrade. Do not forget to build an Archery Range since it is required for the Siege Workshop later. You should not train Bowmen, though.

After upgrading to the Bronze Age, build a Governement Center and a lot of Siege Workshops! The Government Center is needed for the upgrades and for getting more Town Centers - you can replace lost villagers more quickly then. Build your Town Centers in different places so you can get the villagers where you need them.

In the Iron Age, you should get the Ballistics (Gov. Center) and Siegecraft (Market) upgrades first. Then, get all other upgrades as soon as you can. The "Catapult Wars" should already be raging then; at sea, Juggernaughts will rule the game as soon as you can get them. Concentrate your forces and use Ballista Towers to protect your units. Any attempts to destroy Catapults with Cavalry or other units are futile if you have enough towers. You will need to play some games to adapt to the different tactics that a deathmatch game needs.

Especially on land maps, it may happen that you cannot occupy a hill that is defended by 20+ Catapults having the bonus of standing at a higher elevation. Then, Wonder or Artifact strategies may be the best way to win a game. In one game, I had conquered all artifacts and lost them later; meanwhile, I had built up a wonder. My towers that were spread through the entire map could delay the attack long enough for my victory.

Usually, you will not have to harvest any resources, but be ready to do so once they are running low (below 2,500). You can easily get enough villagers to keep your war machinery going.