Ha ha ha! You have no idea how much of a noob! I've played every Total War game on the PC, and am still completely hopeless at them all! And I always find something to moan about! It was overpowered geisha in Shogun, then the collapse of trade in the late game in Medieval 1, then squalor bringing down your biggest cities in Rome. There always seems to be something that's not quite balanced right. MTW2 seems OK at the moment, but as you say I'm new to it...