Newbie come lately?

[Soyweiser]

A this is a nice example of opinions differing.

rdonj, you are mad! Niefs best units are the skrattir (well actually they are commanders ). Sure they need some research to give them equipment, but after that they are more versatile than the large giant commanders, or the giant troops. You probably only want a few of the large blue giants (or the werewolf giants troops) to expand.

NA Nief is a odd nation, it mostly has what we in dom3 terms call thugs and SC (supercombatants). Single very strong units that, if properly equipped, can kill a lot of enemies. So with this nation you tend not to use a lot of troops. (Also, most normal giant troops suck, they are huge so get a lot of incoming attacks, and have only few return attacks. They tend to die quicker than they kill enemies). But giant commanders are great. There are some reasonably cheap area of effect weapons that give these commanders a lot of killing power.

Also, if you are a new player you might want to play a few blitzes (short games on small maps, some played in a few hours (a new turn as soon as everybody has submitted theirs), or played over the period of several weeks. Teaches the early game and how to play with other players. Gandalfs server is ideal for that. Perhaps some other newbie wants to play with/against you.

[Gandalf Parker]

Like I said, opinions differ. On everything in this game.

But to me the first recommended nation should be the simplest, not the most complicated. Being able to do all of the different popular strategies seems more confusing, not less.
"For some people, unlimited options is actually no options at all."

But then again, thats one of the great things about the game. Maybe Im being insulting. The asker gets to hear it all and take a shot at a choice.