lol i played it for months and didnt know you could change build queue order

how is that possible?

It's a bit wonky when you want to move something when you have a huge build queue. Anytime you drag something off the right end, it gets placed all the way at the end of the queue, and your queue gets reset all the way to the first page. i.e. if you were dragging something on page 2 of your queue to the 3rd page, upon completion of dragging. That item would be all the way at the end of queue and you would now be looking at page 1 of your queue.

Nothing that is a big deal, once you get used to it.

Leo:  Hmm - yes I can see that would be a bit of a chore.  However I haven't got to page 2 yet so it is handy for me.  I dont usually build big queues in these games anyway - I change my mind too much

When building, if you hold shift and rotate the mouse wheel you will rotate your building before you place it.

Don't clear all of the monster spawns early on.  Only clear til you have good enough gear to make progress.  If you leave a few spawns they will grow and release mobs for you to farm for xp.  You get far more xp from mobs than AI players and it sucks when you are popping out powerful troops or getting that level 9 hero recruited only to find that the world is empty of XP mobs because you over leveld a spearman or that clumsy guy you got early on.  

yes, best to have only one champion plus troops per army whenever you can manage it and still get the wins you need

Some tips I have seen playing over and over:

- Don't waste crystall and metal in early/mid troops. You will need a lot for full geared end-game troops. Although it depends on the available resources and you will have to design accordingly, a new tech will demmand more resources, so you can find that you spent them on obsolete troops. Use them with caution

- Only 2 fortress uses to be enough to develop good troops. The rest, conclaves (for research) and towns (for gildar and food). If you need urgently to build troops, it doesn't matter if they gain or not bonuses...just put many cities to build cheap troops...

- Rush important buildings to save time when money allows. Usually, on the fortress

- Cast spells on all cities with essence: set in stone + enchanted hammers to raise production, propaganda for gildar, meditation for mana or inspiration for research. And there are more...

- The spells for improving troops, I find better wait to develop the fortress first. Later, you can change the previous spells for the +attack, +defense, +initiative...

- Casting spells on sovereign and heroes is good idea too, if you have mana enough for the upkeep, specially when they are low-level.

Anyway, there are other strategies that you might try, related to magic (magician troops, spells,...) that require you turn your economy to get mana and magic research...

While the tech points you get are free, keep in mind that for every tech you research the cost of future techs go up. So don't spam stuff you don't need just because you found a temple.

Go for the Trade research as soon as you have a few settlements as this builds roads between settlements and speeds up travel massively.  To get roads to outposts you need to research economics.

Ctrl click units in the army selector to choose multiple units to move out of an army at once.

When you hit another sovereigns zone of control, hop over the border and look in the shop, you may be able to pick up some cool gear that you haven't researched the tech for and it also can give you hints about what other sov's have been researching.

Part of the reason to have stuff in the queue is just so you don't forget. But, another, and this is a biggie is: the first person to START building a wonder (once per game building, not once per faction) is the one who gets to build it. Kinda gamey, but it is what it is, so once you rush to get that in a queue, and then say build an outpost which may have some shards, resources, or outpost upgrades they start piling up fast. Plust you discover some new tech that allows you to build new buildings and you decide that you want one of those before other things in the queue, you can see how it'll start piling up. As long as you don't remove anything from the queue you do not lose progress already made.

One other thing about wonders in the queue. If you do remove them, they are back on the block for anyone else to add to their queue at that time.

In the options you can change the Power Ranking bar to be color coded for threat level.  If they mad at you they will show up red or orange.  Helps you from wondering why you just got pulled into war.

You want to get your hands on some influence early on.  [Prestigious locations], It mellows out the A.I. and can be worth a lot in trades as the game goes on.

Even though when you level up the new spells dont look like there worth it, do it.  Its worth it later on, and they only show up at random.  You may get stuck with generic level ups at next level.

Make sure you have a mage that picks as many magical level ups as possible.  Its worth it in the end.  The early spells dont seem all that great, but the final ones are rockn' (still need more).

You can plan on getting your heroes upto level 7-12+ on almost every game you arnt getting clobbered in.  You can plan accordingly.

Play on the hardest level first.  Play it until the AI smashes the last stone in your last city.  Then go back to normal.  It wont take long.

Initiative and encumbrance are way more important then they may seem.

Dont sell inventory items you dont need at the beginning.  Keep them as a piggy bank for the unexpected.  If its not coin you cant spend it.  Believe me, you'll need that 23 coin at some point to save your life.

If you have the option place a city on or near a forest tile.  You can build a lumber mill to help with production.  Same way with rivers.

Dont think your city is safe from that group of ogres because they've just been wondering around for 10 turns.

Dont quit if your getting crushed.  Take it like a man.  u learn a lot that way.

Spell mastery effects only the % chance that a spell will have an effect on the target, not the mana cost of the spell.

Clearing the forest helps you move in and out of town a little faster early on.

Get all your champs on horses as soon as possible (a bit into a game).  You can buy them from AI territory if they've done the research.  They can geto hot spots in a rush.

Dont plan on your first dragon encounter going that well.

Oh, and last one.  Once you have 2-3 towns, take inventory of the possible resources you have available in the area.  Those are going to be your bread and butter.  Plan the rest of the game around those resources.

War between the AI's is often an opportunity.  check often who is at war with who.

Couple tips I learned the hard way

1. Playing on Easy for the first time to get a feel for the game mechanics and how the AI/monsters behave is not a bad idea. (the harest level to get clobbered once  also not bad advise)
2. Don't build cities or outposts near Dragons or monsters you can't handle as they will go after your cities
3. don't use mana for tactical spells friviously, (i.e if you can take your opponent without using a spell then don't) there will never be enough mana when you really need it.
4. As already discussed, don't stack champions/Sovereign unless you really need to.
5. trade with the AI as much as you can.
6. don't let your rank fall too far behind the AI's as that will result in them dog-piling on you at the worst possible moment. (build cheap low rank trash troops to keep your power rank up. They can be disposed of later when you need to cut expenses)
7. Keep taxes at zero as long as you can manage. (really speeds up your production and growth in the early game)
8. Build city upgrades to generate more revenue before raising taxes as a general rule
9. never! never! enter the tactical screen against a dark wizard!!!!!  always autoresolve!!! (this one is up there with "land war in Asia" kind of mistake)
10. Initiative, dodge, critical damage chance, and Spells are the most important upgrades for both troops and Champions/Sovereign anything that helps improve those are a priority. 
11. haste, blind, slow, heal, shrink, and grow, are the most important spells. the frequency in which i use them roughly fall in that order. in general I find the spells in the air, earth and life diciplines more useful than water or fire... (havn't played death yet)
12. ditto on the above regarding your first encouter with dragons or elementals... it will not go well for you. 

I'll add more as I think of them.

1/ Build a faction to your play style. I personally use defensive (one handed spears) Ironeers with the Master Smith and Light Plate traits for some awesome D. Build your Sov to support your faction.... (so no Ironeer mages!!) note- Iron Golum with Round Shield and Winged Spear is sweet for mid game fun!

2/ The starting crown (cant remember the name) that gives free echanting on that unit is pure gold. You dont need to have all theh magic traits on your sov but make sure you get to at least second level earth, air, fire and/or life for the quite substanial boni you can hvae from enchantments.

3/ Settle your second and thrid cities early but make sure they are in good spots. Chances are there will be a strong mob nearby. Buiold troops to kill it first as a priority.

4/ If you have the warlord trait then make lots of troops (ie twice the amount you usually do). If you have +magic bonus then use magic attacks o enchantments, if you get bonus influence then go for trades and the like. Play to your strengths.

5/ Mitigate your weaknesses. Wraiths (premade civ) dont wear any armor past leather so dont try and play that way. Likewise trogs and ranged troops/weapons, ironeers and tactical spells, etc etc.

6/ Slavers.... burn everything. Nuff said. And never kill off all the bandit mobs in an area. Thy are your growth, they will spawn smaller mobs as time passes.

7/ Specialise you cities. Do not make everything evereywhere. Its a waste of time. and time is your enemy - dont forget that.

8/ RUSH build. Going for gold first then rushing is a great strategy. Give you a good leg up on the competition.

9/ Use raise and lower earth (Earth 3 if you have it) to create new routes and close off ones too. makes defending and attacking more on your terms.

10/ The AI loves to use spells if you auto-play during tactical maps without moving first. Move everyone once then auto-play to conserve mana.

11/ 3-1 melee to ranged in your army is a nice ratio for a generic army. Until you have a strategy to use, then stick to one you know will work.