This is my first total war game and I was just gifted it on steam. I have played many a RTS but never a total war game. I would really appreciate advice on what I need to be doing, campaign or otherwise (obviously not things like troop movement, the tutorials cover that).

The first and main advice I could give you is not to rush. For me, it's not uncommon for a campaigns to take months. I like to focus on one single country/province and build up my troops and cashflow prior to venturing out for conquest. I find it's much easier to defend my cities than to attack others, so I like to have my army quite large and advanced before I head out for conquest. Something I like to do is to have all my cities contribute one combat unit every 5 turns to an army that isn't established in any of my cities. It builds a large roaming army that can quickly move to assist any city that gets attacked.

Lastly, if you have enough money - bribe enemy commanders. It gets you another family member and usually another army with different units than you are able to create.

Note: I don't do multiplayer, so this is my advice against A.I opponents.

Keep in mind that it's easier to defend than it is to attack. Do not get over zealous and spread your army across too large an area. Try to keep units alive by using retreating if necessary. A veteran unit is always better than a rookie one. Friendly allies can be just as useful as if you had conquered them.

build more sword samurai

My advice would have been to start with a different TW game, Shogun 2 gets real rough real fast if you don't play conservatively. , what everyone said above still works though.

Just have fun and find a playstyle that works for you. Haven't played Shogun yet(downloading now) but if it's like othet TW games then make sure to balance your books because it'll go south real fast if you don't.

I've heard about allies betrayin you in the campaign. Is this something I really need to worry about?

@AlisterCat said:

I've heard about allies betrayin you in the campaign. Is this something I really need to worry about?

YES! When realm divide happens (After taking a certain number of provinces), unless your on crazy good terms with all your allies, they will eventually betray you, and its very hard to get them back on your side. If you can take alot of time and just get 2 really good allies, it can make the endgame so much easier.

If you really enjoy this I would highly recommend Frozen Synapse as another brilliant tactical game. It's reduced during Steam sales right now.

Specialize your provinces appropriately: It's easier to keep track of thing if you remember provinces as Sword Town, Bow Town, Economy Town etc - the provinces often have natural bonuses which you should lean toward.

Garrison your cities appropriately: There's no point leaving a bunch of units in a city which is never going to get attacked, it's just a continuous waste of money which could be used to improve your cities. Have enough garrison to stop it rebelling though.

Don't capture Kyoto until you are in a strong position: Everybody else sides against you once you take it iirc. Kyoto itself is easy enough to hold, but you probably don't want every army on the map marching towards you if you aren't ready for them.