[OG_Gleep]

Also the more AI's the smaller the map, the harder it gets.

IMHO the best map to learn on is cradle of dominion. A lot of maps don't have natural chokepoints (especially the ones that came with the game). You can actually get away with a good number of AI and still get a sizeable empire that is easy to defend.

Its also my favorite map. It looks good, it plays well. Only complaint is a little too much terrain, but thats a minor one.

Oh forgot these two questions:

1. Empowerment is Permanent. Its very expensive but also worth it in most cases, because your trying to either a) Get access to something you need, or b) give a commander access to something you feel he needs to survive. I don't have the number infront of me, but its easy to mull through.

2. I hated watching combat until someone told me about the little letter we call N. N skips to the next round of combat. Q quits. When I first got this game I would actually go on smoke breaks waiting for long battles to get done hehe.