CRANNY , SPEND ,DODGE Basically early game your crannies should be equal to your warehouse/granary ( whichevers biggest ) + 1/3 ( to defeat teuton raiding bonus ) .
Spend up before you go out / turn in for the night ( unless you're super sure of your cranny capacity ) .
Dodge attacks unless you're really sure you can fend them off ( and easily afford to pay for troop replacements often fine as a teuton not so much as roman ) .
These are the most general basic tips ( and you will find people who disagree & say build no crannies , fight every attack etc but this is whats worked for me over many servers and I wanted to keep it simple )