Now that my eyes have stopped bleeding, welcome to the forum!
I'm Edi, Hunter of Bugs, Master of the Database and Lord of the FAQ. If you need to ask anything, there will be lots of people here eager to help you. If not me, then one of the regular veterans.
As far as nation recommendations go:
Late era, try Ulm and Chelms (LA MAn). Both are pretty traditional and not prone to too much tweaking, but I happen to like them. Both also play a solid game without needing exotic tricks. But each according to his style.
In the middle era I'm partial to Ulm in SP, but Man and Eriu are great too, as is Vanheim.