Well...talk about an intimidating game!

[Shovah32]

The IRC channel(check the sticky) is a great place to start. There are usually atleast a few active people and if there aren't then check later. Alot of them will be willing to help you get to grips with the game or atleast answer questions you have.
Of course, if you want a challenge or just a crash course in dominions you could always go there and join a blitz .

[MadApple]

IRC huh? nicely old school for a nice old school game.

I'll try to pop in later to check it out.

Can i shoot one other question at you guys? There are a lot of battlefield spells that are close range..do these ever get used? I've tried but mostly my mages become toast when I try so I've stuck to the long range ones like blade wind.

[Shovah32]

Generally the long-ranged spells are mostly used but the shorter ranged spells have their uses. Either as unscripted self defence, dealing with assasins, or using their generally high damage(for research level) to take out alot of enemies fairly early on(I like EA caelian eagle kings with a bit of a bless to buff, fly in and cast shockwave for example).