Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition launched this week, and players are already returning to the modern world in droves. While the skill ceiling for "Age of Empires III" remains surprisingly high, it is neither as rigorous nor as esoteric as that of "Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition.

"Age of Empires III," even in "Definitive Edition," has a smaller map, fewer civilizations, and less complex gameplay than its predecessor. This is neither strictly good nor bad, and players have spent the last 15 years debating the relative merits of each game. But it does mean that if you have always wanted to play a history RTS, whether alone or against other players, Age of Empires III can be a very good starting point.

The best way to learn how to play the game is to play the tutorial. The tutorial will explain the basic structure of the game and challenge you to win a single game against the AI. But once that is done, where do you go next? After all, there are 14 civilizations in the game, each of which plays very differently. In fact, unlike the previous two Age of Empires games, the units available to each civilization in AOEIII are completely different. Depending on which civilization you choose, the way you train villagers, recruit soldiers, and build cities will vary greatly.

Therefore, after playing Definitive Edition for over a dozen hours (I don't know how many hours I played the original game as well), I chose five civilizations that were particularly welcoming to newcomers. This is not to say that these civilizations are the "best" civilizations in the game or that they will ultimately become your favorites. But each should help streamline at least one difficult aspect of the game and get you off to a slightly quicker start. Every civilization has its unique strengths and weaknesses. [In AOEII, one of the best ways to get a feel for the different civilizations was to play a historical campaign; in AOEII, one of the best ways to get a feel for the different civilizations was to play a historical campaign.

Unfortunately, AOEIII's campaign uses customized civilizations, which do not correspond properly to the usual 14 options. While it is fun to play such a campaign and learn the basics of gathering resources and building armies, it does not provide insight into how the game's major civilizations function.

Three exceptions are the Japanese, Chinese, and Indian scenarios of the Asian Dynasties campaign. These short campaigns use the Japanese, Chinese, and Indian civilizations in much the same way as they are played in the main game. However, the scenarios themselves do not include standard victory conditions or strategies, so it may still be a wiser option to play the Skirmish game instead.

Assuming you start with the tutorial, the first civilization to play in Age of Empires III is England. This means that all basic commands are learned as British, the first town you build is also British, and the first army you organize is also British. In other words, before you even set foot in Skirmish or a multiplayer game, you already have a good understanding of what buildings you need, which units can fight, and what strategies you should employ.

The British are the best choice for beginners because they get a new settler for every manor house they build (to do this, just make sure you have the right cards in your deck and choose them when you get a shipment from the home country). This means that the supply of settlers should increase rapidly early on, allowing you to gather plenty of resources to equip your army and upgrade your technology.

France is a great catch-all civilization, and depending on how you play the game, you can focus on either economic or military power. In other words, if you play as the French, sooner or later you will learn both ways to victory. Their basic villagers, the Coureur des Bois, can take a lot of punishment and are very quick to gather resources. They also make alliances with indigenous tribes easily and cheaply, so they can adapt to any map.

To be successful as a French army, train lots of Coureurs early on, invest resources in powerful cavalry units later on, and upgrade your halberd infantry all over. If you can ally with indigenous tribes, do so, and consider making those units an important part of your army, especially early on.

Indians are a fairly complex civilization, which may be controversial for new players. They may hunt wild animals but do not eat livestock. Instead of food, they use wood to train villagers. However, Indians are also a great option for early economic growth because they can add one villager for each shipment from their home city.

Another advantage Indians bring to new players is the ability to passively build up their army. If you choose the "Conscripts" card, you will receive two "conscripts" instead of villagers for each shipment from the "home city". Conscripts are not the strongest soldiers in small numbers, but they are excellent for early game defense and for protecting more valuable units later in the game. Sepoy troops can be a formidable force.

The Lakota, formerly known as the Sioux, have a major advantage over other citizens: they do not have to build houses. Experienced players argue that this can instill bad habits in new players, since managing a population is an important skill to learn early on. On the other hand, there are many other skills to learn, and if you start with a maximum population cap, you can build as many units as you can afford.

The Lakota can produce a magnificent cavalry force, so upgrading and deploying the right units is not that difficult. The only drawback for the Lakota is their inability to build walls and siege weapons, which greatly limits their options in the late game. While a slower, more defensive civilization is undoubtedly better for new players, there is also something to be said for a fast, streamlined civilization with a very clear path to victory.

The Ottoman Empire is a great option for new players, as they can get Settlers for free. They do not need to be trained manually, they just need to show up at the town center on a regular basis. This could be disastrous for new players, since spending resources on Settlers is an important part of the early game. On the other hand, if one wants to learn military strategy first and economic strategy later, the Ottoman Empire should be visited first.

The janissaries are a great backbone of the Ottoman army because they are durable and can be easily trained in large numbers. However, time should also be spent on mosques. Mosques will upgrade both the number of settlers and their training rate. Otherwise, you may run out of resources in the middle or end of the game.