I started in late March.. part of the C19 recruits. lol
All of this is good info. Also, hunt around for a guild. You can leave if you cant get much help. Its always ok to change guilds. When you hit the right one you will know. Good advice, questions answered, trades picked up and FP swaps to get BPs and level great buildings.
There are lots of guilds.
I had one GB going into Iron age. Delphi.. Camp in Iron age for a bit get your Zeus, ToB, CoA. Don't wasted time on the Coliseum and Notre Dame. If you find a good guild and make some friends you can probably trade up and get CdM too. A great building.
Army is standar rock, paper scissors, lizard, Spock. Just learn it. You'll need to memorized the symbols if you are on a mobile device.
Dont waste diamonds on production buildings.. Just get the best ones available in your age. Get the ones with the most production value..