[Xietor]

A new player MAY be able to survive long enough to have fun.

Man is a good race for a new player. Beowulf is tough out of the box. While he has some decent summons, I feel it is a mistake to leave him in a capital summoning the entire game-as was done in Epic Heroes I.

Beowulf is a thug. He has great equipment and a devastating ranged attack. Summon for the 1st 2 turns, build longbows and start expanding. Research constr 2, make owl quills, then go evoc 5. Ignore the old age and get some crones out early.

Search sites. With longbows being one of your best units, you may want a pretender that can cast flaming arrows.

An off-the-cuff suggestion:

Master Lich 5d,4f, 1b 1w, dormant, 6 dom, 3 growth, 3 order, 2 cold, 1 magic. I usually take cold or hot based on who is playing what race. If a tough player has a cold race, i will take heat. if he likes heat, I take cold.

Master Lich is nice because immortal so he can be used safely in battles in your dominion. The 5d will allow him to get tartarian gates later in the game. The 4f allows him to cast flaming arrows. The fire/death combo allows for banefire. The water pick allows site searches, and the 1 blood allows a branch into blood if needed.

In short, Man is a good race for a new player. Tough Epic Hero out of the box, good research, evocation is great path for air mages. Get arrow fend/wind guide.

The 5 Death pretender allows for banelord thugs to counteract most anything other races can throw at you in the mid game.