At least she didn't sock you in the underware! That'd hurt...
I myself just finished my first game of Shadow Empires. It was set on EASY mode (i.e., no major opponents, plenty of rainfall, ability to grow crops in the open air (if at reduced caloric value!), etc.), and mostly I was just trying to master the interface.
I'd spend ten or twenty turns trying to figure out how to build assets and resources while I just sort of screwed around with everything else. Then I'd spend ten or twenty turns filling a few new committees and see what the Hell they did. I figured out diplomacy last, which meant that I just started Unifying about 3 or 4 Minors every 2 turns. The last few turns were a grind, but I kind of knew this one would be a cakewalk. I ended up winning in 102 turns, but I wasn't really trying to win so much as figure out the interface, so I don't worry about how long it took.
My leaders were all deliriously happy with me as long as I paid them modest amounts. I'm assuming that this was a function of my difficulty setting.
My biggest frustration was that I ended up with about 2,000 stratagem cards that I never used. I clearly had some settings wrong somewhere in my committee priorities, but I have no idea where! Still, it's a fun and crazy deep game. I can't wait for the Alien Invasion scenarios to come out eventually...
