Lamenting My Bad Choices

In another stroke of pure impulsivity I have found myself purchasing a bundle of games that fall on the outskirts of the whole "genres I enjoy" category.  These bad choices are usually the results of some sort of Steam mega-sale and the latest spate is no exception.  It's not that I bought a bad game, it's that I bought a game that I'm horrible at and totally don't understand.  Tip for others:  understand exactly what you're buying and don't be dense!

What did I buy?  A bundle of Endless Legend games and DLC.  They're not the newest games, but they got really good reviews so I decided the sale price was probably worth it.  "But they're great games!"  I've never really understood the complex, hexagonal, super-strategic games that fall into the 4X genre--and yet I just bought a bunch.

So far I am seeing some things that I like.  The factions in Endless Legend have an interesting mix of sci-fi and fantasy inspired traits.  There is a race of insect-like creatures, some bizarrely creepy stone...things, a sublimely awesome floating lady-mage, mechanical magic monster mashups, and several others ranging from the traditional humanoid-like to the completely strange.  The choices are fabulous, but actually choosing is the hard part.

The Mezari.  I'm slowly killing them with my incompetence.

Once you've chosen your faction you are treated to a short introductory cut-scene that explains the origins of that specific faction.  I chose an outer-spacey humanoid race (for the sole reason that I liked their hair--a very strategic decision) that seems to lean toward more scientific-based options.  They left their world to live on the surface of the planet and with me at the helm they are doomed to a short, sad existence getting stomped into muck by the neighboring faction of bug creatures....but I digress....

Another feature that I am enjoying is that there are some RPG-like elements in the game.  As you explore and meet other factions you have the ability to complete quests.  Each faction has their own unique hero units that can either accompany troops on the battlefield or can be located in a city as a governor.  This hero unit has an equippable inventory and can be improved through spending resources to create new items or receiving items as quest rewards.  Your hero and your troops level up as you battle and explore.  Hero skill points can be used to unlock abilities that either make the individual unit stronger or allow for army-wide perks when locked in battle.

I have absolutely no clue what I am supposed to be doing.  The tutorial pounded it into my head that I should be constantly researching and building.  My small army roams around looking for ruins to explore and has the occasional tangle with roaming troops from other minor factions.  I've encountered a few of the major enemy factions and they are mostly indifferent--should I be attacking them?  Or making peace with them?  They seem to have plentiful resources and armies that vastly outnumber my own.

In the past I very briefly dipped my toes into the epic Civilization V pool before deciding that it was too complicated and slow paced for me.  Endless Legend seems like a slightly more complex pool filled with even more intricacies that I am trying to grasp.  Maybe 4X isn't for me?  I'm going to give it another go and see if I can make some progress toward victory.