I haven’t played this game in a long time any advice

It’s been years since I played this game and when I played multiplayer I thought I was doing good until i got attacked and then decided to resign and saw he pretty much had 90% of the land taken when i just reached heroic age 😂 pathetic right? I’m a big hades fan cause of the gastraphetes and the higher hit points of buildings. Any advice on what to do? I probably didn’t have enough villagers (about 40)which is why my process was so much slower? You guys tell me