Your first match, step by step

If you'd rather be walked through it, pick Wars of Stone → Single Player → RTS Boot Camp. A voiced advisor takes you through every step below and checks you've actually done each one.

Otherwise, here's the short version, using Dwarves. Most factions open the same way, though a couple have their own twist later on.

1. 1Start a game. Wars of Stone → Single Player → Skirmish → New Game. Pick Dwarves, one computer opponent on Easy, and a small map.
2. 2Get your workers busy. You start with a Mountain Hold and three Miners. Right-click the gold mine with one, and trees with another.
3. 3Train more workers. Select the Mountain Hold and train Miners (50 gold each). More workers early is almost never wrong.
4. 4Watch your population. Your Hold supports 10 units and each Homestead adds 6. With a Miner selected, press B and place one.
5. 5Build a barracks. Press V for the military menu and place a Warrior Hall. Once it's up, select it and train Ironguard (80 gold each).
6. 6Don't forget stone. Some buildings need it. A Stone Pit on a stone deposit makes it on its own, and workers can mine nearby rocks too.
7. 7Attack. Select your army, press T and click near the enemy base. That's attack move, so they fight whatever they meet on the way.

What catches people out

• Build your next Homestead before you hit the population cap, not after.
• W, A, S and D move the camera, which is why attack move is T and not A.
• Lost a worker standing around doing nothing? Press . to jump to them.

If you get stuck, ask below, however small the question.