Help Me! I suck

[Mrpebbles]

Title just about sums it up. I cannot seem to win battles, nor can I seem to do well on the map. I really can only win battles when I have a large number advantage coupled with better units, as my units always rout before theirs do.

Additionally, my economy is always in the pooper. I can maintain one large, high quality army, one small, low quality army, and a sizable fleet. However, I start to lose income once I have all this, yet it seems other nations can consistently match my large army, then out produce me.

Basically, what I'm looking for is just general tips to survive the big map, and an in depth explanation of the combat and the economy systems, and how they work.

Edit: To clarify, I have read two guides, including Frogbeastegg's. They were helpful, but they did not really give an in depth explanation of combat and how it works - mostly just what to do. I need to know how things work before I can actually figure out what tot do.