You can always just play in high era, but that limits the amount of units you can play with, by 1/3. :) I like the spear/pike units of the late era, since they can actually stand up to cav, unlike most units in the early and high eras.

Lavos: MTW became unfriendly to new players later on in its life-cycle. At the beginning there were many clans and many ronin players who would take the time to train new players who were interested in getting better. It is a shame you missed those people and clans who used to take the time to help out.