Villas not only give you silver but they reduce training times by 1% every upgrade. It's totalled, so if you have say 5 villas at level 5, that's a 25% overall troop training time reduction bonus. The amount of villas you have is up to you.
Also, plan troops to fit your day/night schedule. Instead of massive builds that probably finish when you're asleep thereby wasting valuable time, do it so you can jump back on and start the next lot of troops.
Beginner Hero Items
If you've bought gold, you would have been given a gift. First is Hermes Sandals, next Hades Helm, then Enyo's Grace. Don't delete these items, they are valuable:
Hermes Sandals - march speed bonus
Hades Helm - troop training bonus
Enyo's Grace - trap building bonus
Hall of War
The amount of troops you can rally on behalf of your alliance depends on the level of your Hall of War. If you want to be a fighter, it is important that you upgrade your Hall of War as much as you can. You need Books of War for this, which can be purchased in the items store, or you may receive them from the bouncy treasure chest or alliance gifts.
