General Newbie Help

[Evilhomer]

You might want to check out the stickied post "The strategy index". It gives some advice how to play most nations, and might be what you are looking for.

[Edratman]

Also play a few quick games on small maps with 3 random opponents, normal settings. You don't have to go more than 20/25 turns and use a couple of different nations. Then if you go through the posts following that, almost all of the posts will no longer appear to be expert level discussions (especially if you see anything from me).

[thejeff]

One of the goals to shoot for in the early expansion phase is a province a turn. At least 10 provinces by the end of the first year. More if you've crippled your scales for a bless or SC pretender.

Lategame stuff is much harder to practice in SP, since the AI is so bad at it. You can learn to build SCs to take on the AI hordes, but those SCs won't stand up to MP tactics.

[Velusion]

Ya if MP is your real interest SP is only useful for learning the basic game and experimenting on how to expand optimally in your first 15-20 turns. Otherwise just jump into an MP game. You'll quickly find yourself reading the entire manual .

I suppose someone could/should put out a 2-3 page "How to jump into Dom3" thread/article. That might be good for quick learners who don't want to read the entire manual but want at least a reference point on their first game.