*** MORPHEUS' HUMAN BUILD ORDERS ***
originally posted July 14th, 2002

Well the release is finally out and I know some people have been wanting to 
know how I start my games, so I'm going to discuss theory and then give the 
orders I would use to support said theory.  

Humans theory:
When you begin a game as humans, there are a few things you should keep in 
mind.  First off, human midgame is harder to get than most other races.  
Their seige needs to be built in a seperate building, their spellcasters do 
as well.  When you start a game with human you should have a plan.  Mass 
footies, then knights, is a very safe strategy and allows you to backup 
your teamates early.   Fast knights is viable as well, but leaves you and 
your opponant open to early attacks, but is very powerful once it gets 
going.  Mass sorcs/priests is rather easy to get to, and powerful if you 
have enough melee support from your teamates.  Once this strat gets rolling 
you can really mess up enemy armies with polymorph/innerfire.  
Rifles/mortars is a strategy I have seen effective but ONLY if you have a 
lot of melee to tank for you, and you can get those mortars early.  Rifles 
alone just don't cut it.  2-3 mortars well micro'd can make all the 
difference in the world.  I personally suggest 2-3 hero, 2 hero for 
most "safe" strategies like mass footies, and 3 hero for specialty strats 
like priests/sorcs which will require you to go fast castle anyway and 
you'll be less strained for money.

First: safe build.
4 of first 5 peons go gold
5 Altar (i always tend to go altar first just in case of hero rush)
6 Farm
7 Wood
Altar peon builds rax
8 gold
farm peon goes wood until 20 lumber then farm 2
9 wood
10 wood
11 wood
12 wood
Unfortunately I'm not entirely sure when each goes up, but make rax 2 asap, 
while continuing to make farms.  Don't build smith or lumber mill yet.
Get smith when you have 30-36 food used with footies.  Get mill whenever 
cash allows around this time.  If you want to go fast 2 hero (less footies, 
more risky, earlier second hero), upgrade hall around 30-32 food, and save 
5 food for your second hero so not to break upkeep.  If you're going for 
stronger rush, pump footies to 40 food, and consider clearing an exp to 
continue pumping. 

The key to this strategy is early pressure and creep clearing.  With 12 
footmen and some good micro you can kill a lot of creeps quickly and get 
expansions cleared for yourself and teamates.  I HIGHLY recommend getting 
scrolls of healing when doing this strategy because you can heal everyone 
in a big fight.  Always get defend when doing this strategy, if for nothing 
else than making creeping easier.  On a map like tranquil paths almost all 
of the big creeps are axe throwers and you can use defend to kill high 
level creeps and lose very few to no units, while getting game changing 
items.

As SOON as you get an expansion up make sure you have a mill and a smith 
and start getting castle asap.  Footmen make for a hard rush early but 
quickly become useless in the later game so having knights fast will be the 
transition you need.  Once you're going castle start thinking about making 
either an arcane sanctum for spellcasters or a workshop for mortars/gyros.  
Keep the enemy contained, and expand around the map while producing and 
teching.  Common strategy that still holds true. If you get an expansion up 
and want to catch up on upgrades from the late smith, build a second smith.

Solid all around strategy up next:
First 4 gold, 5th altar.
6 farm
7 wood
8 gold
farm peon makes rax
altar peon goes wood
farm 2 as soon as you have the cash
pump footmen continually until you have 6-8, then get defend.
keep making farms to 42 food, if not more.
after 5 peons are on gold every new peon goes to wood, up until 11-13 peons 
total.
Make a mill (get a guard tower up behind some farms)
Upgrade hall around 30 food used, for second hero.
Once Keep, pick a second tier unit and start producing to back up your 
footies.  Mortars if you're pushing into enemy towns.  Sorcs/Priests if you 
still haven't dealt with their army.  Get an exp up and go castle, then get 
knights.   Same basic plan as previous order but more basis on mid game and 
less on early. You're sacrificing some of your rush to get a bit ahead in 
the tech game and hope it turns the tide of the battle.  If you do use this 
strategy get your second tier units asap once you're keep, or you will be 
at the disadvantage.
If you did constantly produce footmen while teching to tier 2, you should 
have 8-10 footies and a bit of food room for hero 2 and starting to get 
tier 2 units.  Once you do get your tier 2 buildings up though you'll break 
upkeep quickly so try to get some towers up at an exp spot and an exp up 
there as well.  Side note: If you want to fast expand on a lot of maps you 
can do it by making 4-5 footmen, turning 3 peons into militia, and 
attacking a nearyby exp.  Once the exp is cleared have one peon build a 
tower and the other two repair build your new hall.  Immediate protected 
exp, early in the game. :)

Finally the tech rush strategy.  Only to be pulled off if you have a very 
solid team and everyone knows what you're doing and is ready to support 
it.  Pretty simple strat really.  
1-4 gold, 5 altar
6 farm
7 lumber mill
8 gold
9-12 wood
Make a tower behind some farms and upgrade it, just in case. Maybe make two 
towers if you're worried about a rush.
no rax, make smith at keep if you're going knights or mass mortars, make no 
smith if you're going all sorcs/priests.
Upgrade to keep as soon as 12 peons are out.
Once you hit keep, build two of whatever building you're going to need for 
your strategy.  I.E. 2 workshops, 2 arcane sanctums, or 2 rax if you're 
going fast knights.
Go castle immediately as well if going sorcs/priests or knights.
Note: You will probably have to use your hero as a tagalong for awhile 
while you get this strategy set up.
Begin upgrading your sorcs/priests from one arcane while building your 
units from the other.  Stick with your teamates at all times and use your 
spells to change the battles.  Slow is good, and once you get there, 
polymorph is better. It is highly recommended you have the mage as one of 
your heros, because brilliance aura keeps your priests/sorcs stocked full 
of mana.
The negatives of this strategy is obviously you have no early tier units, 
making you useless for your teamates in a rush, however, since you spent 
your early rax month for upgrades, you will have lots of tier 2 or 3 units 
VERY quickly.  Have a partner clear an expansion for you if possible and 
just mass mass mass.  Stick with your partners and play your duty in 
battle, be it targetting with mortars, tanking with knights, or 
polymorphing everything in sight with sorcs. 

I'm sorry I don't have more specific orders for you as of yet but a lot of 
how I play is still based on feel.  In team games massing is an important 
aspect but what you mass can make a big difference.  With human you'll most 
commonly run into mass footies, mass knights, or mass sorcs.  Be wary of 
the steam tank rush, as it will turn your town into rubble without much you 
can do to stop it.  

The basic theory behind winning with humans is kill them VERY early with 
footmen, or get tier 3 abilities/units.  Their mid game isn't all that 
strong but with their cheap defense upgrades you can make humans last a 
very long time in battles, and tank for your friends.  In general if you 
want to win a team game, I suggest mass footies unless you're feeling 
confident and change your playstyle depending on what you run into in the 
rush.  It'll make sure you have troops to help your teamate, and it puts 
the pressure on the enemy early which is a good idea.  More to come 
tomorrow, comments and thoughts are appreciated.

-Morph