I have been playing for 10 minutes and have been increasingly frustrated by one fact: I'm going ultra fast, a red block comes, and BOOM--I'm dead and falling. otherwise, the game is awesome!
Also Germans have better manpower (units are better) but USA get resource points faster and can deploy units faster. You can play as Germany on Custom Game.
and merajur and everyone else who is stuck on lvl 2: upgrade arrows or castle arrows once. then when battle starts take control of miner and mine pronto. recruit archers whenever you get the chance. If the natives come close retreat, then pick them off. It's really just holding out.