[Zentar]

Some may consider rusher to be someone who captures independents in a line away from his capitol in order to quickly reach and destroy someone who is not expanding quickly and is perceived to still have a weak army and therefore be an easy target. I expand slowly away from my starting capitol in expanding concentric circles which could be considered a form of turtling until a rusher meets the outside ring, then my production advantage pays off. This kind of reflects what Gandalf was saying. I also like to get my construction to level 4 asap, for weapons, equipment, and to accelerate research with Skull Mentor.

By the way, mercenaries are great for their price and tremendously help expansion especially in the early part of the game.