[HotNifeThruButr]

I won my first game with New Era Pangaea, so look into that.

I think good races for newbies are the ones with high variety. In other words, Mictlan is a big no-no.

Marignon has a whole rainbow spectrum of different infantry, crossbows, powerful and reasonably priced riders in the form of Royal Guards, and flexible sacred units for the high magic Pretenders.

Man features mighty and versatile Longbowmen, Knights that can play polo with enemy soldiers, and vicious Wardens of Avalon for heavy infantry.

T'ien Ch'i is another nation with good variety. They have two ranged weapons in Crossbows and Composite Bows, Imperial Guard who're hard to rout and can deal decent damage, and cheap Imperial Horsemen that shish-kabob as well as any knight. Magically flexible Celestial Masters also make good site hunters.

Enjoy your Pretenderhood!