[Edi]

Your strategy also has to take into account how large the map is. Pure armies will work well on a small map, especially if research is set to hard or very hard.

I've so far taken part in two multislayer games, and my experiences varied quite a bit.

One of them was a Faerun game where I picked Vanheim, and due to the mistakes and crappy design decisions on the early versions of that map which really screwed Vanheim over, I got curbstomped.

The other one was a Cradle game with Zen's version of that map where I played Abysia, and I got pretty far with that, into the final three. Atlantis finally stomped that game, largely uncontested becase the Man player who was the other claimant to the throne just abandoned it.

Abysia and Man are both solid options, depending on what kind of play style you use. Abysia and Ulm both suit me well, as does Vanheim. I'd stay away from some of the trickier ones like Pangaea and T'ien Chi until you get more familiar with the game.

I don't like the unmodded game much anymore, because magic plays such a completely dominant part in it, and certain spell combos are basically the only game in town. I much prefer the CB series of mods in its present incarnation.

Edi