I'm a Marine stationed overseas and am attempting to get into Emperor multiplayer on the internet. I've been playing Starcraft with a fella stationed in the Washington DC area and we're now trying to transition over to Emperor. We prefer cooperative play but have some issues with the game. My friend hosts the game, I join. Here's the problem - when we enter gameplay my friend has an established base and a fair amount of troops. I, on the other hand, have only a construction rig and 2 or 3 combat units. He's usually won a victory by the time I get up to speed. Any way we could start on a more equal footing? According to the manual we should be each starting with a construction unit. Any insights greatly appreciated. Semper Fi, Kerry