Heroes

If you don't mind a little spoiler (don't worry, it's a tiny one), it turns out you're a god. Actually, a demigod (read: there's some competition for the crown). As a result, your people pray to you and seek your guidance and support when things are looking grim. They will ask you to protect them, come to you when they find neat things like trees covered in gold and such. But at the end of the day, they can't survive without you -- or one of your competitors if the price is right.

You

As you are the god to whom the little ants pray, you need representatives to do your bidding. At the beginning of the game, you'll have an opportunity to recruit "heroes", who will go forth and attack many people and conquer provinces as you see fit. You will have many heroes and it's important to carefully monitor their progress and change or encourage their decisions as necessary.

Tip #1: Never, ever, ever, let a hero just sit around doing nothing as you hit the end turn button. They should always be in motion -- searching, exploring, conquering. That's their job and you're not paying them to stand around collecting dust.

Experience and Leveling

Just as your troops do, your hero will gain experience as he wipes various enemies from the face of the shard. Upon gaining a new level, you will then be asked to select a buff to one of your stats. However, your choices are randomized, so you probably won't have the option to buff the same stat every level. This bit of randomness adds to the game and challenges you to adapt as necessary.

Mortality

While heroes are powerful, they are at the end of the day mortal. So you need to protect them just as you do all the people in your realm -- except more so. In times of desperation, if you are 100% sure that a hero can take the damage, you should launch them into the teeth of the battle to save your lowly soldiers. But only when absolutely necessary. And if you doubt at all that your hero will survive, sacrifice any little soldier you have to to win the battle -- starting with the soldiers of "0" rank and working your way up to your most seasoned troops.

Predictions

Just prior to entering battle, you will be given scouting reports by your heroes. These reports are invaluable -- unless they're wrong. In which case, they will lead to disaster. I'll cover how to spot the ridiculous reports later. For right now, know that those words aren't exactly gold.

Classes

Your choices of class are warriors, scouts, commanders, and mages. I'm going to cover "Hero Classes" in a unique blog post because the classes have unique features that deserve their own discussion.