[Endoperez]

Try different game settings. Take a map with more provinces and less enemies. About 20 provinces/nation should give you more time to get ready for them. Use independents setting of 5-7, as this slows down your enemies more than you. You might also want to up the richness and magic of the world, so that you will have more things to play with and learn about in your first games. Some nations that aren't too hard to play against: Man & Marignon (beware their longbows/crossbows), Ulm (bypass armor with lightning or Thaum. attack spells), Machaka (hordes and some tough units, aim for Blade Wind, E2 is enough if you give mage earth gem or two). Avoid these: Abysia & Jotunheim (tough units with elemental immunities), Caelum (flying -> hard to defend against), Ermor (undead themes are deadly to AI), C'tis and Pangaea might turn out as undead nations so you might want to avoid them for the first few games.
Also, Jotunheim and Ulm have very strong provincial defence. Arbalestmen with decent protection for Ulm, Giant Militia for Jotunheim. You might want to try them out if strong defence is your thing.


You should make Priestess your prophet and have her cast Fanaticism in your best army. Research either Evocation (Fire Darts, Lightning bolt,Acid Bolt, Magma Bolts...) or Thaumaturgy (Paralyze, Mind Burn, Soul Slay, Enslave Mind) so that your mages (Mystics and Astrologers, respectively) have some offensive punch. Alteration would give your casters some utility spells: Quickness helps lucky Mystic turn the tide of battle if he has any offensive spell to cast besides that, Eagle Eyes helps your Priestesses a little, Personal Luck is good protection, Body Ethereal affects one grid of units (3 humans, 2 horses, 1 giant and 1 human... 6 size-units at max) and can help your Hoplites to rack up some skills with even less risk.

If you need extra meat for your armies, have Priestesses summoning Vine Men (Conj. 1 or 2). They are not as buff as their bigger brothers, Vine Ogres, but they are good meat shields. Build Ivy Crown (Constr. 2) for the summoners when you can afford it, and you will get even more of them for every gem you spend.

And when you think you are doing well and have found some magic sites, research some Construction and build some items. Earth Boots, Starshine Skullcap, Thistle Mace (Nature 2, so you mightn't be able to build it) and some others help your mages to boost their magics further. Dwarven Hammer helps you build items more cheaply, but E3 mage and 20 earth gems might be hard to get.

If you have army next to enemy border, he won't be as likely to attack you. In these cases, quantity is better than quality, so recruit some cheap units like archers that are of some use. Then recruit few points of PD (11 makes the AI even less likely to attack). Your PD will harass the enemy and your arhcers are hopefully able to finish them off.