The following build order and decisions describe a basic setup for Alin beginners and intermediate players. It claims neither to be complete nor to be the one best way. Feel free to add comments and propose improvements.

1. Your starting city is focused at the beginning of game

• build a caravan
• build a merchant district
• build a magus district
• research treasure 1

Hotkeys: Q - SHIFT+E - SHIFT+W - L - E

2. Produce more miners

• Focus the mine and produce 2 miners.
• If the mine is already maxed out, set the rally point for the miners onto the next mine, which is usually revealed and within your territory.
• Rally points may also be set by right clicking in the mini map.

Hotkeys: N - Q - Q - RMB

3. Start scouting for relics and enemies

• Focus your scout, add him to group 1 and let him explore in half circles around your territory or send him directly into direction of your enemy (set waypoints by holding SHIFT and right click in the mini map)
• Focus your desert walkers one after another, add them to group 2, 3 and 4 and send each unit into another direction. A good starting direction are nearby cities and already revealed relics. Grab them by right clicking in the mini map.

Hotkeys for Scout: ' - CTRL+1 - SHIFT+RMB
Hotkeys for each Desert Walker: , - CTRL+Group# - SHIFT+RMB 

4. Observe Scouting, research and economy

• As soon as the first merchant district is ready, build another caravan.
• As soon as the first magus district is ready, research treasure 2 and build another merchant district.
• Use the remaining timonium to max out the second timonium deposit with miners. Try not to queue up too many miners at once, since the timonium has to be paid right away and you need it for new districts.
• Your desert walkers are not as keen on grabbing relics as the scout is - if you see new relics on the mini map near your desertwakers, guide them exactly over the relics. The scout grabs relics even if they are not on his direct route.

Hotkeys for Caravan: (focus city) I - Q
Hotkeys for Treasure 2, merchant district: L - E - I - SHIFT+E 

5. The second mine

• The time when to build the second mine relies heavily on your scouting (relic) income. Since the second mine costs 75 tinomium with +5 timonium income per miner working there compared to another spirit miner, which costs around 20 timonium and delivers +10 income, the decision seems pretty obvious but it is isn't :).
• In general I would recommend the following:
  • If the second mining deposit is near the first mine, build at least 4 miners rallied to the second deposit, then build the second mine.
  • If you possess spare timonium (don't forget your city districts!), build the second mine right away and pump out miners from both mines.
  • If the second deposit is far away and of course within your territory, always build the second mine first - otherwise the miners' long walks to the deposit will slow down your overall timonium income despite of the savings of not building the second mine early.

Hotkeys for building miners in multiple mines:
SHIFT+N - Q - RMB

6. Further research and economy decisions

• By now you should have explored about 80% of the map in a 1vs1 player game (small map).
• When the second merchant district is ready, built another caravan and a merchant district (have a look at the pop cap, in some cases you might need to build an initial military district first).
• Résumé:
  • You have built 2 mines, 3 merchant districts, 1 magus district and 1 military district
  • You now possess about 12 miners, 4 caravans and 5 desert walkers
  • What to do next?

Hotkeys for military district: (focus city) I - SHIFT+Q 

6. The next steps depend on your strategy

• You should have enough gold now to buy a second city - that is what I usually do (you get free units and a city at full health, the trading income for the trading route with this city is also increased).
• Now it depends, if you wish to rush, boom or do something between (turtle):
  • If you like to boom, build a merchant district and a caravan at your second city, then build another magus district at the second city. Meanwhile upgrade your capital city to a large city (build a palace district) and research either land lore 1 or vigor 1. While the palace district is built, get another magus district at your second city. When the large city is ready you should have 4 research points left to research treasure 3. In the mean time build additional mines and miners.
  • If you like to turtle (maybe you smell a rush?), get your first hero up and fill your second city with merchant districts (and caravans of course) rather than magus districts. Building your first circle of sand you will be able to defend properly against a not well prepared rush. While defending against a rush, enhance your economy by building additional mines and miners.
  • If you like to rush, you could strike a very agressive path - get your hero up and build 2 military districts at your second city giving you another 4 sand walkers (now about 11 units in total if you purchased the second city). Now go and hit the opponent, but don't forget to build a circle of sand, either in your territory or even more agressive near the enemie's border right before your army arrives of course. You will benefit from the shorter distance upcoming troops have to travel.

I hope this small but detailed guide will provide you with the necessary setup for greater strategies and helps Alin beginners to get into the game more quickly. Chris (1210MKII)