noob faction

[karlalsop]

so after all the updates and dlc which faction for a noob i bought the game but never really played [been addicted to anno 1800}
i have all the dlc and wh1/wh2 ty all

[yer]

high elves or dark elves

[Gryndholt]

High elves at Lothren or dwarves at Karaz -A- Karak with Grombrindal, they snowball hard. Mind you that high elves allow you to experiment with more play styles then dwarves can. Empire is also an option if you already played the historical total war games.

[Ewalden]

Well, I'd say take one of the factions with the easiest mechanics and most straight-forward gameplay.

-High Elves, especially Tyrion, have very straight forward campaigns and good units to boot, of almost every kind, from excellent archers, elite infantry, good cavalry and flying monsters.
-Dwarves, while they lack cavalry, can be a very nice first experience, a very powerful army mid and late game, with tons of good troops and artillery, just don't take Belegar the first time, because of his very reduced economy.
-Vampire Counts and Vampire Coast factions, because the undead are simply put easy to play, especially if you also use magic. Indeed they might be the best factions to press home how important supporting your troops with magic is.
-While its actually not so straight forward because of the political system of the Empire, the Empire, Karl Franz in particular, can be an interesting first faction, and they too have a ton of troop diversity, but no flying units (unless you count characters).
-Greenskins, because their faction mechanic is so straight forward it almost hurts and their troops can be some of the best in the game, especially if you use the "scrap" upgrades.

Factions not to try the first time?

-Dark Elves, because despite having just as good troop types as the High Elves, and having a very straight forward campaign mechanic based around slavery, they lack global recruitment, and their Black Ark mechanic simply doesn't replace this effectively. Not noob friendly.
-Bretonnians, because of the way their armies are limited by how far the Knightly Vows have been upgraded, and peasant economy, Bretonnians are not a new player friendly army. Despite being awesome in campaign and I personally love them, but no.
-Beastmen, because they might actually be the hardest faction to play, and their growth and ability to wage war grows the slowest of all the playable factions.

[Lain]

Eataine/tyrion of the high elves is a real easy start and campaign

Gor rok of the itza faction is pretty easy, start with a powerful hero named kroak. next to enemies your faction is known for handling quite easily & you start in lustria which is great cause you are next to a bunch of allies aswell

Karl franz of the empire has a pretty easy start & his campaign is moderate. can be confusing if your completly new to totalwar

Dreadfleet of the vampire coast i found quite easy aswell, probably one of the best starting locations in the game lol very hard to lose this campaign. your objectives is just to do stuff however you want to

probably more but those 4 are the easiest that come to mind

[Trippy Drug]

High Elves are a very strong and reliable faction with probably the best all rounder roster. Good, high quality units in almost every category. They are perfect for allowing you to learn how to handle a wide variety of different units and the way they play. The challenges they face on the campaign map are also (usually) pretty balanced, with Naggarond as their end-game boss

If you don't dig their aesthetic, the faction right below them I would recommend is Empire. Their roster is not as flexible and variable as the High Elves, but they are still a simple, strong and usually straightforward faction where you will usually know exactly what you want to do and what to invest in. Their faction mechanic is a little bit weird to handle the first time, but you should get the handle of it. It should also be noted that they teach you two things the High Elves won't due to their lack of, and that's the correct use of gunpowder units and artillery (High Elves do have one unit of artillery but Empire is way more flexible in that department). I wouldn't say their starting position is as comfortable as High Elves, but it's still definitely manageable.

I am going to disagree with Ewalden's comment on the matter of Dwarves. Do not play Dwarves. Yes, they have the most basic-♥♥♥♥♥ army in the game that requires very little micro management in comparison to other factions, but in their current state they are sub-par, and especially after the Greenskin update you are likely going to struggle surviving due to some important campaign disadvantages they have, like their very low growth and consequently the fact that it takes ages to unlock their better units. Same goes for Vampire Coast. Very unique faction with a lot of weird and faction-specific stuff in it.

[Lunos]

High Elves should be your go to first faction. DO NOT PLAY DWARFS to start off with. You will struggle and die, a lot. They are not in a good spot right now and you will get swarmed by Orks from every direction straight out of the gate.

[Cat]

I would start Mortal Empires as Empire, Karl Franz. Best thing about them is that you can mix a lot of different units and you've got some great choices for melee, cav, archers, artillery and all different schools of magic to play with. The Empire is right at the centre of action with humans, vampires, greenskins, dwarves, norsca, chaos, skaven, wood elves all near you.

Another option is High elves either Eataine or Avelorn. They're by default powerful. I'd actually try Avelorn, the positioning is perfect you're right in the center with lots of ally factions, gates guard the perimeter so you can decide to venture out and fight at will. It's a fairly defensive play.

The reason I'd recommend high elves less than Empire is 1. It takes most players about 3 minutes to realize the best strategies are stacking same unit over and 2. you have no other races near you, just high elves and dark elves (who at the start with the spears and crossbowmen don't even differ) soooo overall a bit of a boring gameplay without venturing out, taking initiative. Empire really throws more fun your way.

Just play it cool, whatever faction you pick, the game can go on for hundreds of turns, don't stretch yourself thin by conquering too much at once early on being at war with too many factions. Make allies, trade partners, upgrade your towns, upgrade your army, level your lord, heroes, do quests. It's a lot easier to beat the AI and take city after city but harder to defend it especially as the new provinces make squat all money.

After you're acquainted with the game, do try the vortex campaign and all the different factions it's quite fun too. Mind that they are NOT balanced. Some campaigns will roll you and that's normal.

[KOS]

Dwarf they have no magic, they have solid unit, good artillery, and no cavalery, perfect for begginner.

[Lunos]

Originally posted by KOS:

Dwarf they have no magic, they have solid unit, good artillery, and no cavalery, perfect for begginner.

Sure from a battle micro standpoint they are an easy army to play. Until he looks at the campaign map and sees multiple Ork stacks rushing him on turn 5. Dwarfs are not a good way to learn the game with their insanely hard start.

[Klogg]

Originally posted by KOS:

Dwarf they have no magic, they have solid unit, good artillery, and no cavalery, perfect for begginner.

Incorrect. After the Ork overhaul, the Dwarfs get utterly drowned in the green tide and require much battle prowess and extensive campaign knowledge in order to stabilize their starting position.

[Donut]

might be just me but i've found Mazdamundi to be great, it was the first one that i started off with and gave me a great play through, you get decent units to toy around with and great magic for some good fun

[Ewalden]

The thing is, the first time one plays the game, one shouldn't play it on hard or above. On easy or normal Dwarves don't get rushed by multiple stacks by turn 5. We are after all talking about someone wanting to play the game for the first time, with all the factions available. It's not like he is going to start out on Legendary difficulty, is it?

[Storm Runner]

for campain tyrion or gor roc you can basicly auto pilot them for batles vampire coast or dwarfs

[Namhaid]

As other have already said, Tyrion of the High Elves is the easiest for a noob player imo. Mostly because, unlike other suggestions, he has the least weaknesses of any faction. He has good infantry, good ranged, good magic, good monsters, an easy starting position, a good economy... the only aspect in which they lack a bit is artillery, as they only have one option available, but it is a pretty decent option that can work as both anti-large or anti-infantry, so you won't be lacking in any aspect.

[EnemigoDeLaMafia]

I found the green skins with wuuzrag the green prophet to be particularly easy. To the point I simply quit that campaign because I was steamrolling everything.

Now my experience with the empire is from WH1, I didn't find them too easy. Starting position is hard and if you don't crush the rebelion there is a particularly griefing orc AI that can be troublesome. Plus their troops do the job but don't particularly excel at anything and can be even somewhat frail depending on who you are against. You gotta manage the artillery and the cavalry and guns. All the schools of magic kind of make it difficult to understand, IMHO, so if you don't know how magic works it's a bit confusing.

Which brings me to.. the greenskins, particularly wuuzrag, you can and should still be using those three in small amounts to get the hang of it. However your archers whilst not the best are a bit more sturdy if caught, you'll get cavalry you can learn to manage, and the magic should be relatively straight forward. You have only 1 artillery piece which is quite reliable and also have monster support, something the empire lacks.

Finally I wouldn't recommend dwarfs because you'll miss out on having to manage cavalry for example, or using flanking maneuvers. The dwarven troops
Are quite reliable but you'll miss on having to manage some things and when you play a weaker faction things won't be do straightforward.

However and finally, I think the best starting faction is the one that you have the most interest in. That will keep you playing even if it gets hard.