Well, big numbers tend to push the engine to its limits. I personally play on "100" size, edited from the preferences.txt. I find that size the most convenient; not too many, nor too few numbers, plus you can easily have a huge 1 vs 1 fullstack army battle (at least my pc does).
As for the faction I recommend you to play as, I would say Makedonia or Epeiros if you have some experience with phalanx-based factions, or Karthadast (Carthage), as they have a very good starting position and tend to make lots of money from the beginning.
Maion
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