[Tuskerlove]

Turn 1:
Take 1st territory
Buy mercenary
Recruit a mage + any troops you can afford.
Have your pretender research spells the first turn.

Turn 2
Take 2nd territory with starting army
Take 3rd territory with merc army.
Buy second merc army
Recruit a mage + any troops you can afford.
Move pretender to 1st territory to search for magic sites.
Have your 1st mage research.

I follow this format ~ until turn 4 or 5 when I buy a priest and a commander to start castling and building temples.

I usually use the mercs for larger provinces that have more troops so I don't waste my own. If the mercs are down to a low number of men ~ I usually try to kill the merc off in turn three so a new merc is available on turn 4.

I'm very new to the game so I don't know how smart this approach is but I haven't had much difficulty against the computer on normal.

I think a big part of the game is developing magic sites as soon as possible to give yourself an advantage over the competition.

I'm curious to how good/bad this approach is.