Slitherine

I have gotten the game and SoA. I have looked at the addon and see the huge number of armies...But my question is: How do I use the expansion pack? Do I pick one of the armies and learn it and then use it online. Or do I play through most of them and choose.

I have read about DAG and am a little confused...Please explain.

Love the game and the time period. I really like the different armies that came with SoA.

Enjoy this community and want to get online and PBEM very soon. How good does my skill have to be?

It depends on you. Some people choose just a few armies and focus on them, while others play a different army each game. Your best bet is to choose an army you think is cool, and learn to play that one. After you feel confident, try another army that's different and so on.

DAG(Digital Army Generator) allows you to create your own armies from scratch. There are some historical limits to all armies, so that they follow the doctrines of the age. Like, English armies rely on longbows, so you'll probably have to take a bunch of them, while the french rely on knights, and so on. You choose an amount of points(350 to 500 is common online) and make your army with that amount. Then you can join a game made by someone with that amount of points set. Provided you have the add-ons your opponent wants to use.

You can also play with pre-made armies(the Quick Game option, I think), if you feel daunted by the ability to make your own.

Before playing online, you should hopefully be able to beat the AI most of the time, otherwise you'll be crushed without it being fun.
If you think you have some sort of grasp of the rules, it's good enough.
The skill level of people online varies a lot, it's polite to tell your opponent if you're a beginner, they might even give you tips and hints on how to get better.