Age of Empires: Getting your hands wet(The Good Old Days)

This post is about one of my favourite pass times i.e. gaming.I first came across Age of Empires when I was in 10th standard.Those days one of the older versions of the game was in stores i.e.Age of Empires :The Rise of Rome.I was an amateur then and used to play the easiest level for hours.I didnt have any strategies then ;I just played because I liked to rule a civilization.What interested me was the characters;the villagers,the army and the navy.I just played,not to win but to rule,taking my time like any king building a beautiful kingdom.It was funny in a way that I wouldnt fell large amount of trees,I would leave some gold for future use and then build an extensive system of towers to protect my land and then finally, surround my kingdom with fortified walls.Then I would build a large structured army consisting of every unit in a balanced fashion.The next step would be sending a group of knights for spying purposes and then finally attack with a huge battalion.It was fun playing like that.I never knew then what were the special units and things like hit points and armour were alien to me.Played without any sense of counters and strengths.My games would go for hours and days.

But, my attitude towards Age of Empires changed when I came to college and saw how the game was to be played.I was amazed at the pace with which these people played,like pros;strategy ,counters,timing all were top class.The game would be finished within half an hour.Then I realized what was wrong with my game.
These days I am working a lot to improve upon my game.Here are my tips for improving upon your game in general:-

1.Recorded games:-Watching recorded games will help improve your game to a large extent.It helps you to know about what to do at what time ,the various strategies,the counters and the strengths.Also, record the games played by you for future reference so that you can go back to them to view your mistakes and take some tips from the opponent's game.Some of the good quality recs can be downloaded from this link aocgroup
Note:This game will run only in the 1.0e patch.You can download this patch from this Rapidshare link

2.Shortcuts or keywords:-Its a very good idea to know the keywords of the buildings,creating villagers and make them work.It not only improves your speed but gives you time to choose which thing you want to do at what time.The shortcuts can be found in the options of Age of Empires.

3.Timing:-This is probably the most important parameter of Age of Empires.You need to keep track at what time you do what.If the time doesnt appear in your game screen just press F11.See the recs and try to achieve the milestones in the fastest time.For example,with 25 vils the fastest time to reach feud is about 10:30 mins.

4.Strategy:-Strategy and planning also play a key role in Age of Empires.There are as such many strategies to follow but according to experts there are certain special strategies for certain civs.For more details visit this site http://www.salamyhkaiset.org/aoe2.An excellent site which has tutorials,strategies and even some videos for Age of Empires.

5.Practice:-Last but not the least;practice is a must for Age of Empires.First,just try to build a firm economy by achieving milestones.Play against easiest comp. for this.The next level would be attack.Try to do some experiment with special units and counters.I will talk about counters in detail later.

Thats it.You do these things over and over;then one day while watching an old rec of yours you will realise that your game has improved quite a lot.This is such a beautiful game that you can spend hours on just discussing it with your friends and never get tired trying new things.
Last thing I want to say is ,14.