First steps in EW4?

I would tell you to do the first three missions of both campaigns available. Then try out a few conquests (take your time).

Then, after you get familiar with the game,attempt 1815 as France,to win below 65 turns and get the artillery princess Sophia. If you have any difficulty with France 1815, just tell me and I'll make a guide(which will be my first guide!). Or you can do France 1798, which most people recommend, but I think France 1815 is easier.

After getting Sophia, you might be able to do the next few campaign missions. if you are not able to,just save up medals to get Golitsyn the cavalry general.

He can be found on the second tier of the H.Q. Just keep on resetting the generals using the button on the bottom. If your first three resets are finished and you still have not found him, just do conquests, from which you will get medals and also be able to get a few reset turns after you play for a while.

Keep on doing the conquests(again, take your time) until you get the 955 medals needed for Golitsyn.this way,you will be able to increase Sophia's rank(each time she kills enemy troops,especially ones with generals, she her rank will build up, giving her more health).

I wanted to make this look less like a wall of text, so I put spaces in between.