I need to beat my friends, or not suck at least - help!

Hi,

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So the situation is this: I haven't played the game in 10+ years and have agreed to play with my friends tomorrow; only having this afternoon to practice (and night? hehe).

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My favourite civilisation used to be Mongols so I'm going to pick them up again. What should be the best strategy for me to use? (I just found out about scout rushing and castle rushing?) or to counter their countering of my elite unit?

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Other than that what should I do to prepare and which tactics might work best? Currently I'm trying to get my head around basic build orders and am just practicing the dark ages over and over again. From what I've seen the best strategy seems to be pressure the enemy and be on the offensive, how do I effectively defend though?

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Any and all help would be much appreciated :D