How to handle low resources
Every time I enter into a game of warcraft II, be it via smurfing or just wanting to get into a game, I immediately assess the situation as follows:
First, I leave whenever there is a level I really don't like being played. This includes levels like Nowhere to Run, and some of the other levels that are just crappy. Then I check to make sure that it's a pud I have... If I don't have the pud (I don't yet have the expansion pack). And finally, although it doesn't determine whether I leave or stay, I check the resources.
First of all, no one picks medium resources anymore, except on sea levels where it's still used occasionally. Back in the old days (when a reg number of 003975 meant you were a newbie) Medium was the most popular setting. It got the best of both worlds; low was too slow, high was too wild and didn't test your skill. You could get a few base buildings up, but nothing more.
Then came the seven man grunt attack. Basically, it involves (as best as I understand it) making 3 farms, 6 peasants and 7 grunts extremely fast. Or something like that. Maybe there's only 2 farms. I never bothered to take the time to learn it. Anyway, the seven man grunt attack basically ruined medium resources. It's no fun pumping out seven grunts and then attacking with them. So because of this, the good players were forced to play with low resources instead of medium.
The newbies have and always will, I guess, pick high resources. They're too impatient, too jittery, too used to Doom and Duke Nuk'em to accept anything other than an all-out attack in the first 2 minutes of the game. These are the people that start with default resources because they say a town hall takes too long to build. Anyway, when I see a game with high resources I immediately think "newbie." It's almost a guaranteed win, unless I really screw up. Before, the newbies picked High and the good players picked Medium. Now, the newbies still pick High but the good players almost always pick low.
So a lot of people shy away from low resources. It isn't always because they're impatient, but just because they're not very good at them. Then don't know how to handle low resources. And although I am not the fastest person out there at pumping out the grunts, I can hold my own with the best. And on sea levels, you had better watch out if you're playing me :) Few are much faster at all.
Anyway, that burst of ego aside, here is the general plan for low resources on land levels:
1: The Hall
The first thing you ALWAYS ALWAYS need to pull on low resources is the Lumber Bug. In case you're the one person out there that hasn't found out or been told by now, when you take a couple of chops of lumber before building a town hall or lumber mill, after the hall or mill is built you get the 100 lumber (or 125 for the mill) -- as if you had chopped the lumber entirely. So you take your peasant, take a couple of hacks of wood (all you really have to do is right-click on the trees, but I like to take a couple of hacks to make sure) and then build your hall as close to the gold mine as possible. Don't be like those people that build their hall a mile off. The closer the better. And if you pulled the lumber bug, you have enough money right off the bat to get your first farm.
2: The first 5 peasants
Whether you're on land or sea it makes no difference; the first five peasants go in this order: gold, gold, lumber lumber lumber. You build five peasants before you build your first farm. Then, the peasant that brings in the pack of lumber that takes you to 250 builds your second farm. When it's done you start making peasants again.
3: Farms 2 and 3
This is where your strategy most often differs from the norm, depending on what you want to do. Generally, though, you build 3 farms before building your barracks. You can build farm, farm, barracks, but I wouldn't recommend it until you have the fffb down first. And never NEVER build your lumber mill after 2 farms on sea levels, unless you're trying to eek out stealing oil, and have practiced it to the point of it working. That's a dead man's strategy. But anyways, you want to keep a balance of peasants between gold and lumber. If you're grunt-pumping then put more on gold. If you're playing more conservatively then put them on gold and lumber split about 50/50 for a while. At least, until you get your third farm.
4: The buildings of consequence
Unless you're trying a super-quick strategy, you will have built your barracks after three farms. Or, on sea, this is where you build your lumber mill (Don't forget the lumber bug for the mill as well .. this can give you a small edge on sea levels, where a small edge can give you a huge advantage in the long run).
4.1: Land Levels
I'm not the expert here. Basically, you build your barracks and start pumping out as many grunts as possible. If you want to go all grunts then you build your second barracks very soon, quite possibly after your 4th farm. If you're playing more conservatively, build a blacksmith next. I would seriously recommend walling in a cannon tower. If someone is faster than you with grunts, this will keep you alive until you can catch up. That is, if you get it up in time. A walled in tower is a great thing to have ... something like this is a quick way to wall in your cannon tower. If you keep finding yourself behind on grunts, try this and see if it doesn't work. Still, you want two barracks as fast as possible ... before you even begin to think about expansion. Do it ... it's worth it.
From here on out, I can't help you much more for land. I don't really know too many specefic strategies for low on land -- I just sort of go with the flow. Always remember, however, that predictability is your worst enemy.
4.2: Sea Levels
I AM somewhat of an expert here. Getting a battleship out early is, in my opinion, much easier than getting grunts out early. Probably because it's not necessarily whoever attacks first that wins, if the forces are equal. Anyway, you build your lumber mill, and I would immediately build your shipyard. You should have the resources to do so, provided you have stayed on top of your farms and have not done anything stupid. From here, be sure to keep building peasants. This is something a lot of people forget. You need to keep building peasants, even (especially) on sea levels. Also, on sea, your peasants should be more lumber-intensive than on land --- ships require more lumber than soldiers. When your shipyard is done, you build oil tankers and build your foundry. Build your first oil tanker, wait till you have the resources, then start building your platform. While your platform is building, start your foundry, and get about 2 or 3 more tankers. I like to have 4 tankers before my foundry is done. Then, you get the oil needed for a battleship right away. Somewhere in this point, if you have the resources, you should build your barracks. And then you start pumping out battleships. Also, remember to upgrade! This is SO important!
Next comes the key ... a lot of people skip this point, but a second shipyard is almost always a necessity. If you aren't completely getting beat on sea, you want a second shipyard. You'll need to build more oil tankers from there at first, but once you get the oil pouring in you can start pumping out 2 battleships at a time. This is super-important. This is what gives me an edge over a lot of other players, and is the reason I rarely lose sea superiority.
This is where low resources melds with the other resources. If the game lasts far enough to make it to the keep/stronghold level, there is no difference between low resources and any of the others. The strategies say the same. And, as Tou told me to be the strategy for low resources, "You mine and chop until the resources become, like, high."
