[das123]

I agree with Gandalf's take on where to start for a new player. There are so many concepts within the game such as: Bless strategies; Super Combatants; Strangulation by Dominion; Battlefield Buffs; Searching; Item planning; Research strategies; Etc etc etc.

For a new player this can be overwhelming. Best to simply play against Easy AI (they aren't that easy!) and learn about army placement strategies. As Gandalf says, this whets the appetite. You have a few victories and think you have the formula down pat and then, 'bam', you meet an enemy using a particular strategy that beats yours. Then you need to re-think how you'll beat this new threat so you focus on learning just that aspect. And so on and so on. Much more manageable for a starting player.