by Saturnineage
Mark, I'm sorry your first game didn't go so well.May I suggest you try out the How to Teach Mage Wars booklet? It is a much easier way to get to know the game and shorten game time.
http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/83114/how-to-teach-mage-wa...
Also, the Walkthrough in the rulebook is another great resource. The amount of data in the game can be overwhelming at first, but you will find that everything makes sense as to how the terms are used and how the mechanics work.