Help. I suck

I used to play this game when it came out. It has been my favorite for years. Now with the steam version I have once again tried to play. This time against other players. AND I JUST DONT GET HOW THEY CAN BUILD AN ARMY SO FAST!! Can someone please give me a step by step list of what to do in the first 6 minutes of the game? I have tried keeping making workers, and buying the dogs upgrade, also building my houses around my towers. I keep losing... my score is now low 1500... I tried looking for help on YouTube, but I was unsuccessful. All I found was people just narrating how they play