Online tricks?

Ok I bought the game yesterday, and did the tutorial, everything went fine.

I played a couple "Custom Battles", with 100% damage to myself and my troops, and I'm actually doing alright, win some lose some (about 70% win).

But today, I decided to try playing online. And holy %$#^ am I getting my ♥♥♥ kicked. What the hell? People seem to be able to snipe me from a mile away, and yet I can't seem to ever hit them. Also, when fighting in melee, I can't seem to win ANY one on one fight, I block the first hit, try to hit them back, and BAM he hits me right back in the face before I can even begin charging up my attack.

Need help, what am I doing wrong?