Which First Game...

[Rabbit]

It is surprising how well the individual Squad Battles titles capture the atmosphere of the different wars in terms of the style of warfare and strategies employed, given that it uses the same game engine. Hence it actually is a good suggestion to start with whichever war interests you the most.

Just for instance, I personally find SB-FWW a very well-thought out title that creatively uses the SB game engine to represent the style of warfare employed during WWI which is dramatically different from all the other SB titles. However it is a brutal affair and I find it grinds down my morale simply by playing the game.

Then you have something like the Africa At War mod (which you can download for free if you have the Squad Battles Pacific War title), which involves lots of vehicles and has an absolutely different feel to it.

And then a title like the Falklands War is fun because of its scale. Essentially you can play out the entire conflict.

Red Victory generally is considered the best title. However I actually might recommend starting with a different title. I say that because I think Red Victory offers the best challenge to seasoned players, so it might be a nice title to better enjoy once you have played some of the other titles. In that way you can better appreciate the subtle strategies intended by the designer. Red Victory certainly is great for novices, so I would recommend it if that's the only title you plan on getting. Otherwise I'd suggest choosing a title based on whichever war you prefer and then circle back to Red Victory.

And welcome to the community! I was reluctant to play other players online at first, but people are awesome here. Don't be intimidated by not having played much, you will quickly find that you have a blast playing against people of any level of experience. Cheers!