If you don't want to play a battle, you can autoresolve it instead. When two enemy armies meet (or when an army attacks a settlement), there will be a battle.
You need to construct buildings, recruit units, manage money and other resources, fight battles, replenish troops, as well as moving armies around the map to fight more battles! You can also engage in diplomacy and trade, or wage war. The gameplay for most factions (except hordes) revolves around controlling settlements. In provinces are settlements and various types of terrain. The campaign map is divided up into provinces. Then all the other factions each get a turn, and then it is your turn again.
The campaign is turn based, you perform all the moves you want and then end your turn. In some cases, factions will have dynamic starting positions, this means that their starting position will change depending on which faction you choose to play as. Each race (and sometimes even individual factions) has it's own unique gameplay mechanics, units, buildings, and more. You can also adjust the overall difficulty slider. Each faction has a different starting position and starting difficulty.
