A THREAD FOR NEWCOMERS!

Where does this even exist?

English keyboard keys A R

Or like this

Added after 14 minutes

Please tell me, which template is best suited for a beginner to practice skills like building chains, capturing objects, and so on.

No template is needed for capturing objects—you need armies of different factions and the objects themselves. You can draw them yourself in the editor, or use ready-made ones for practice.

And another question: is it effective to play each game for just 1-2-3 weeks (against the computer) purely to learn how to start properly, or is it better to play every scenario to the end?

There's absolutely no point in playing to the end (killing the AI). Don't pay any attention to its existence at all. If you start an SCM, try to grab a secondary skill in the first week, collect available crypts, and explore the terrain. In the second week, assemble an army—take the most useful creatures from respawns (consoles, hives)—and head to the treasure zone (raid the wyverns). By the third week, break into the Dragon Utopia, then push through the GO. Check your losses to make sure they're acceptable (not like you killed them but ended up with nothing left yourself).

Mass Slow will help a lot in battles against neutrals, so Earth is mandatory.
Logistics allows your hero to move further (especially when speed-boosting; ideally, the speed of the slowest creature in your army should be at least 11). A mandatory skill.

Remember: capturing the first one or two hives is hard—after that it gets much easier.