hey, thanks, i'll try the tips

i must confess, i've been too chicken to try online as of yet. i figure the TW community is pretty experianced at this point and i'd get the ever-loving crap kicked out of me... but hey, everyone's gotta start somewhere, right?

anyways, thanks again for the tips and, more importantly, the friendly atmosphere its good to see a game community thats not totally juvenille and hostile to newcomers. i think its something to do with the more intellectual and historical nature of the total war series verus most other games (like UT2k4).