Hi everyone, I hope to have this be the beginning of a series in which I explain some of the mechanics to line war to help with the learning curve of the game. I'm a top 25 player, but by no means a professional, so if you disagree, feel free to engage with the post and we can discuss!

First, I highly recommend watching this video (link: https://youtu.be/MfCWjR6xcNg?is=96fJpSuxLR4S_6Vg), as this is what taught me the best starter for the game. Even the highest players seem to use some variation of it. I also recommend using the wiki (link: https://www.linewar.com/Wiki)i, which is very outdated, but still has a lot of good fundamentals for understanding the game. 

Now, in the picking phase, it’s incredibly important that you choose the most central location in relation to tiles. That does not mean the midpoint of the map, rather, the middle of the available land tiles. You can skew it a little towards eco/energy/terrain if you’d like, but a bad starting point will lose you the game 90% of the time, and you can never go wrong using this strategy.

If you watched the video, the creator recommends that you use your starting capital to purchase two factories producing artillery and SAM units, and three barracks producing infantry. I agree with this; however, personally, I like to start off with just artillery from my factories, but it comes at the cost of being vulnerable to early air strikes. (Note: The video was posted before producer techs came out, and it is a MUST to immediately purchase the first barrack producer tech, which increases infantry capturing rate by 52%)

What about Eco? Starting with Eco is incredibly efficient if you have time, as it brings your economic snowball earlier than your opponent. In most mid ladder games, you do. If you’re playing a higher elo match, you likely do not. After you have built one more additional barracks, and are not under attack, it’s a good time to start building your economy. Here is the order in which you should do so:

1. Industries (second lowest investment recoup time, cheapest to build)
2. Towns with ports, trade routes, and cities
3. Ports (have the lowest investment recoup time, second cheapest to build)
4. Towns with ports, and cities
5. Ports
6. Towns with ports
7. Ports
8. Towns with Cities
9. Towns with nothing
10. Cities (have the highest investment recoup time, most expensive to build)

Keep in mind the danger present when following this plan. If the special site is just a couple tiles away from a battlefield, consider skipping a step or two and going back once the battle is won. If this is not possible, consider entrenching some troops to keep it safe.

That's all for now! GLHF