 Players begin with a constructed town center or a wagon that will build into such , an armed explorer , and a modest number of villagers . Players explore the map and begin gathering resources used to build additional units and buildings and to research upgrades or technologies . Actions such as training units , constructing buildings , killing enemy units etc . , earn the player experience points . At certain experience point thresholds , players earn shipments that may be turned in for cards from the player 's Home City , which can include units , upgrades , or resources . The game progresses similar to most real @-@ time strategy games until one side resigns . 
