[Edratman]

I also had difficulty learning the game. I tried to play it like Civilization and got crushed pretty much. I also tried playing real big maps because I thought they would be more interesting, but I found myself getting too tied up moving troops and ignoring the details of the game.

So I started playing small maps with 2 foes, 8 or 9 independent strength, normal AI, easy magic, 75 site frequency and high cash and resource factors. This accelerated a lot of factors and the reduced number of provinces I owned allowed me to play more with the magic, forging and other aspects of the games. This enabled me to learn much more about the game and incorporate a lot of what I read in the forums but never used because I was overwhelmed with micromanagement of the vast maps.

I'm now up to medium maps with 4 or 5 opponents and I'll probably stop there because it takes me 2+ weeks to complete a game. I have no idea how I would ever finish a 120+ province map. Now I have the opponents 1 level up from normal AI and magic back to normal. I leave the independent strength at 8 or 9 and use high cash, resources because I like them and don't feel a need to try other settings. I made my first SC's a couple weeks ago (wraith lords) and was pleased to no end with their success.

If you try to learn on a big map you will probably get frustrated like I did when you find yourself fighting on 3 fronts without enough armies to handle all the action and no real knowledge of the magic system to handle this much activity.