Well, I just got a second phone line, and my modem is all screwed up because of it. Nobody can call into my computer, but that is only a problem in Warcraft 2. So I'm stuck calling out or playing Kali (and there's no point at 15 min. games). Well sooner or later I'll break down and buy it...
But for now, I just have to practice on Alex (or let him practice on me, ouch!). Quite frankly, I'm sick of ye old orcs get the bloodlust and rule the world GOW games. And I'm really partial to water. And best of all, I know how to play a low tech game (don't advance above town hall). What is the level you play for all of these? Bingo, X marks the spot.
And since I'm "serving" I get to choose all the thingees. No cheats, fog of war, low, ahh my perfect game. I'm humans, Alex has seen the level so he chooses humans (wise choice). I start out on the right, he is on the left (the only place he could be).
I decide to sweep him off the sea and grab an extra mine, then shell his base into submission. So up go my first 3 farms, then mill, farm, farm, shipyard, foundry, farm, farm, barracks.
I take the oil patch under my town (stupid me) and have to lug oil all the way back to the head of my island. Not a good move. I put up 3 more tankers and another shipyard in case of a major naval engagement (this one also gets me close to oil).
My first Battleship goes out and sees Alex putting up his oil well. He has 4 tankers backed up and is constructing a foundry. I take it down. I chase away his tankers and start beating on the shipyard. I make 4 footmen (level 3) to defend my town and start thinking about expanding (good thing too, I have 700 gold left).
I take the bottom island, knowing from experiance that it is easy to wall in down there. It is a good thing I did. Alex rebuilt his foundry and shipyard out of my ship's sight on top of his island and pumped out a transport (I had blown up his smith, so he had 0 oil after this). He couldn't chanse a fight for an oil rig (fight? It would be target practice- tankers vs. battleship), so that is the extent of his ships for the game.
I get my TH up, totally blocking the path into the island. Alex comes in with 4 peons, and finds that 4 peons cannot take down a TH faster than 6 can set one up :). I land 2 level 3 footmen and chase them away, then head back for my base.
My peons keep popping out of the wrong side of the TH, so I decide to wall off that side. Alex sends down 2 peons and 2 footmen (level 2) to take down my TH. An upgrading tower, plus the walls, stop him from getting in. He couldn't see the tower, so he took down the wall and started bashing the TH. The tower killed them all.
I sent a peon over to the
other island to see if he had gotten it. Sure enough, it had been
claimed by 2 footmen. I sent in 3 of mine, killed them, and went
back to my base (I was afraid of invasion).
I upgraded the TH and got a flyer. It seemed that Alex had retaken the island with 4 peons and 2 footmen. A wall was going up, a tower was up and ready, and his guys were guarding it all. I sent in 4 footmen and killed his footmen and tower, but got killed by the peons. I send in another invasion covertly. Here is what happened.
Well, believe it or not, 2 peons can repair a tower faster than 2 towers can take one down. So that attack died, too. I sent in a move in invasion to kill Alex's main base, with my 1 and only battleship supporting. There was no resistance. I should have reconned it out first, but oh well.
Well, I was clearly winning, so I decided to toy with Alex. I blew up his barracks with my Battleship, then I cranked out 3 sappers. They turned his new TH into scrap. What really killed him, though, was the loss of farms and mill at his main base. He couldn't support another base without his infrastructure, and I didn't let him rebuild much at his new base.
So I just went in with the grunts. Here is the final assault. 
Well, Alex surrendered after the sapper hit. Here are the final scores. He got me back later, though...
And, for you visually inclined people, here is a map that shows some of the action.
Moral
Never get caught without a navy.