Not only is it cool and fun but if you make a clever or sneaky move that has your human enemy on the run it feels like a magic moment and the likelihood is that your opponent is uttering a certain amount of expletives in your direction. Although enjoy the occasion because at some point you will find the positions reversed and find yourself doing the same thing!

A human foe is sometimes harder to fool and sometimes easier but potentially that much more devious than a computer could ever be. Multiplayer gaming can result in much more interesting attack groups, defensive patterns, and larger groups of units. When playing the computer it's possible to out think your beige box but can you out think flesh and blood? There's the challenge.

Human players may be more inventive but are also much more liable to make mistakes. While pursuing a certain strategy they may completely forget to protect a whole side of their base, which could allow you to plan a move with sneak units. Your human opponent like you is only able to give attention to one thing at a time, which means if they are attacking they are also open to an attack.

The basic principle of playing against a human opponent is that you will require more units and less static defences. When defending your base consider the possibility of an attack from any possible avenue and therefore having a mobile defence is the best option. This will mean that you will be able to react more quickly to attack. It also is wise to position a few defences to the rear in case of a rear end sneak attack.

As mentioned already you will need to have bigger groups of units. No computer opponent would consider using more than two dozen tanks in one attack but a human opponent certainly would and you will need to be able to counter this. So be prepared for the likely tank rush!

Remain extremely flexible and learn to adjust your thinking as your human foe will be testing you out to a far higher degree than the computer could ever do because quite simply you are dealing with unpredictable human behaviour.

UNITED STATES
=> The downside of playing as the US is the fact that you do not have any weapons that linger after their deployment. For example, there is no Dragon Tank or Toxin Tractor, no Nuke Cannons or anthrax packed Scud Launchers. You only have the capability to offer a defence against these weapons in the form of the Ambulance that is able to clean up these toxins. Although of course the actual units themselves can be destroyed before doing too much damage if you are quick enough.

Another disadvantage of the US is that the units are more expensive than their Chinese or GLA counterparts although the units do tend to be better. But it does mean that it will take you longer to assemble a force on the scale of China or the GLA.

An example of this is the Chinook. They are faster and can hold more supplies than the supply units of the other armies but they cost six times more than what the GLA has to pay and Chinooks are $600 more than Chinese Supply Trucks.

So although there is a downside to the US, the fact that they generally have better units means that if you do it right, that strength will play it's part. In a one-on-one situation, a Crusader on it's own will always beat a Battlemaster or Scorpion. The same goes for a Humvee against a Technical.

In the air, the US has a big advantage over the others. Obviously the GLA doesn't have any flying units at all and the Chinese only have the Mig. As powerful as that might be it doesn't compare to the full compliment of aircraft available to the US.

A ploy to consider as the US is NOT to launch a big airwar. The Chinese or the GLA will probably be expecting it and will have a considerable amount of air defences in place. The US ground units also maintain a good parity with other ground units and therefore it would be an unexpected ploy to limit your attack from the ground.

The US aircraft also make a great flexible base defence too.

If you decide that you do want to use your air supremacy for attacking, it's important to coordinate this with your ground units. You could use your Tomahawk missiles to keep enemy anti-aircraft positions busy while you then send your air power in. Commanches are the most versatile unit to use as they don't have to return to base to rearm. They hover and fire, reload and fire again.

When arranging your base defence, always include Pathfinders and they are especially useful in Humvees. These vehicles are good for quick moving and responsive attack and defence as they can carry a choice of weapon carrying men and have the Tow Missile as an upgrade.

The vehicle itself is weak but with two rangers, two Missile Defenders and a Pathfinder it can be well protected with the Pathfinder targeting enemy infantry from afar.

It's also good to employ Pathfinders around areas in your base where enemy Infantry rushes might occur.

The main point is that as China you have brute power and a large amount of units at your disposal. The Red Guard is a good example. Unit for unit your power might not be up to the US but your ability to bulk up and amass your units evens up the odds.

Always use the horde bonus for those units that have it available and use the Red Guard because they are so cheap to build and are on a par with other enemy infantry.

If you want a lot of them quickly then build Troop Crawlers. They cost $1,400 to build but come with $1,200 worth of Red Guards. That is very good value and Troop Crawlers can detect mines.

China does not have the same strength of air power as the US but it does have the Mig.Your opponent might not consider that an air strike is likely to be the greatest threat from you so a surprise strong Mig attack might be in order to catch the enemy out. However if there is at least one US army involved in a multiplayer battle you can be sure that all the other players will have strong air defences in place. This would be bad news for an attempted Mig attack.

Your greatest threat against the enemy is the Overlord. They are a tough unit although expensive. Attack using them in groups but make sure that one Overlord in each group is upgraded with a Speaker Tower allowing those other units close by to self-heal.

Gattling Cannons are also great for taking care of enemy Infantry at long range.

When playing as China, you will need to balance your somewhat limited choice of infantry with your almost unlimited choice of vehicles. Use your Inferno Cannons in bulk for long range attack, your Dragon Tanks to keep enemy infantry at bay, then combine these with your large amounts of Red Guard mixed in with Battlemasters and it all amounts to quite an intimidating force.

Remember too the upgrades that are available. Use the Subliminal Messaging with your Overlords if fitted with Speaker Towers to increase the healing rate and look out for Nationalism in order to increase the Gattling Cannon damage.

Units such as the BombTruck are ideal for taking advantage of enemy mistakes. It is expensive but very good at what it does if you are able to get it close to it's target. The trick is to disguise it as an enemy unit and move in close remembering that enemy base defence units will be able to see through the disguise. So you'll need to look for weakly defended areas which are likely against a human opponent. Using a Bomb Truck attack could open up an enemy base allowing your other units to take advantage.

Jarmen Kell also is a very handy unit to utilise. He has the ability to snipe a driver out of an enemy vehicle and then allow them to be taken over by your rebel units. This way your weaken the enemy but build up your own strength. It's a good thing to try and target vehicles that are different in abilities to your own in order to give you an edge.

As the GLA you'll need to generate a lot of money. That's true enough of whatever side you play but as the GLA it's very important to have cash available for expensive research projects.

The Black Market can help generate a good cash flow and so can the Cash Bounty whch will come naturally enough by destroying the enemy.

Concentrate on Scorpion Rockets and the ability to use anthrax in your weapons. Worry less about Junk Repair as this could lead to having to micromanage when you need to be concentrating on the war in hand.

Make good use of the Tunnel Network and always have an ongoing plan to build them. This will give you the ability to easily move your units around where you need them the most. Remember also that anything placed in the Tunnel is repaired to full strength.

A good ploy is also to use the Rebel Ambush at the highest level once you have the Generals points to do it. Deploying an ambush into the enemy base when you are already mounting an attack can be very detructive.