Playing the game

The best way to learn how to play this game is by watching recorded games. Analyzing replays is a great way to analyze mistakes. There are also some basic strategy guides to get started:

Tips & Tricks

How to be a better OpenRA player
Learn the Hotkeys and shortcuts.
Concentrate on harvesters and refineries in the early game. (To ensure a strong economy.)
Do not waste units. Example: do not attack with one Medium Tank against the enemy. Such an attack will result in both lost production time and money. This will also alert the enemy to build defenses which could be difficult to overcome later in game.
Always make sure the Harvesters (Ore Trucks) go to the closest Ore Refineries, and that they are as close to the ore as possible.
Sell unused buildings such as refineries near empty resource patches.
Use arrow keys for moving the screen and disable scrolling when touching the edges with mouse. This increases control over the screen and player units. (It is recommended to use middle-mouse to pan. This is fast and accurate.)
Play on a large screen at the highest native display resolution. This allows the player to see more of the map at once with minimal scrolling, a clear advantage.
Constantly search for crates, which provide randomized rewards of bonus units, credits, unit or global repair and more.
Always have a defensive building ready to be deployed. This provides some time to fortify the base when attacked by the enemy.