The usual base-building process that most other RTS games perform has departed, and instead, your base is either provided for you at the beginning of a mission, or by taking over an enemy's base. This eliminates the early time wasting period at the start of most RTS games that can often bog them down. Barracks produce fighting units, or the Town Hall, which can shelter your peasants and armies. As you go throughout the course of the game, other settlements will present themselves to you, owned either by your enemies or neutral sides, and you'll have to decide whether or not it's worth taking them over. Having more towns can be a good thing in terms of added resources, but it can also mean having more to protect, and more mouths to provide for.