What's a good starting nation for newbies?

[NTJedi]

Graeme Dice said:

Any water nation that is alone under the seas can survive pretty well, as most other nations will have difficulty mounting effective attacks against you. Jotunheim is a decent choice, as your troops are very powerful.

I would also suggest starting with a water nation if you're worried about losing. If you play a map where you are the only water nation then you should last a long time without any threats. As you get more experienced I would advise not playing the water nations unless the map is mostly water and your opponents are also water nations and/or easily able to travel into the water... another exception is if you're playing multiplayer.