[Xietor]

Well,

The Ryleh is always a tough out in the water. They have a very tough assassin who kills 1 commander a turn that has a siege on an underwater castle. That is a serious handicap for the land races coming into the water to get you.

But I will not go into a complete set up of other races. Man made my fingers hurt.

Another very tough land race/epic hero combo is ermor.

Arcos and pythium are both devastating, but require much finesse to to develop. So i would not recommend either of them for a new player.

I would avoid the weaker MP races as a new player, Ulm, Atlantis, oceania, Tien Chi, Machaka. Shinuyama and Bandar Log require some expereince to play as well.

I would stick to heavy bless nations, Man, Ryleh, or Caelum. The Sacred Yeti of caelum is pretty tough.

Vanheim and caelum have the same air magic advantages as man, though are not as easy to play.

Vanheim in particular has an epic hero that can die easily if not played well.