Disciples III: Resurrection guide ?

[yeeyoh]

Hi,
I've just bought this game and I was wondering if anybody could point me to a half decent guide.
What I'm really looking for are some tips for the early turns in a game. I keeping dieing in my first fight and I'm wondering if I should be doing more of a build up before I even venture out ?
I've played a lot of RTStategies but not a lot of RPgames.
Well, thanks in advance for any help...