P1Basic

pay a visit to the westwood help page ,
where there are tips from some of the top players.

Save yours and others' time by knowing the westwood rules
and stuff BEFORE joining a tournament.
Westwood Online Tournaments offer prizes on a monthly basis, so there are
some keen (and some serious) participants, and not all will have time to help you,
no matter how genuine your questions are or how friendly you try to be.

Try to do all the missions
(on hard of course!) before trying to play online.
Bearing in mind that on the other hand, you can learn stuff online which will help do the missions, but then it's not such a challenge.
All the missions can be done by a newbie if you read the help files & the manual.
- without outside help..

Learn the maps
use the skirmish option offline,
or make your own channel and work your way through the scenario list.
Choose tournament or non tournament in the opening "create channel" window.
You will find some maps suit your style better than others
so use those if you feel the need to attain a higher ranking sooner.
.(If you want to use your custom maps make sure they are in your red alert folder, and select non tournament to enable access to them.)

Use the Ranks Index
RA Ladder System
Use the ladder to check your opponent's rank.
Not all players do but its a good idea, particularly
if you want to do battle with players of similar skill.
NB the higher the rank of your opponent, the more points (up to more than 60) for a win .
Conversely, the LOWER the rank, the more (minus) points for a LOSS!
(Refer Westwood online rules for the scoring formula)

Look for experienced opponents
An apprentice learns from an experienced craftsman -
so if you want to learn good technique, strategies style or even tricks, then play against those who are BETTER than yourself. Playing lesser or equal will gain you rank, but only so far. Once your rank is higher then you will begin to lose anyway.
If you want to ask opponents for tips, ask intelligent questions

More tips in my other pages, and in other Red Alert sites
(there are hundreds of RA sites, and dozens of really good ones)
- (see links page)

eg., find more tips here or on other sites on . . .
game channel start options	what to build where when	build order on diff. maps
how to use the hotkeys	how to handle the missions	campaign strategies
getting the most from units	clever "tricks" some use	SNEAKY tricks some use

.also available on some of the other red alert sites - maps d/l's; game, unit & mission editors; channel options editor - etc, look around.

I'll answer if I can else help you find solution.