I picked up Tribes of the East since it was a standalone expansion, not having to have all the previous games, which as a newbie completely appealed to me.

I started the campaign, and am not quite sure how to proceed. I know it sounds pretty stupid to the vets of the series, but being brand spanking new, I'm not completey sure of what I'm doing.

Typically in other games the first couple of missions in a campaign will walk me through what I'm supposed to be doing, or at least offer a getting started tutorial. I can move around the map, double click on things, and even fight. But I'm doing this all blindly, with no real understanding of what I'm doing or supposed to be doing.

Aren't I supposed to be able to recruit reinforcements? Dunno how to do that. Isn't there supposed to be some kind of city screen? What do I do with the things in my backpack? Can I sell off useless (or what I perceive to be useless) items I'm carrying? What are all the buttons on the screen actually do, and when should I be using them?

I've read through the manual, and it explains some of the thing pretty well, but I'm accustomed to at least a tutorial on the basic gameplay mechanics... Or at least a starter mission in the campaign that explains things, how it puts it all together...

Even tha manual states there should be a manual (pg 6), saying the first campaign should have pop up messages and flashing icons on what to do next, but I don't see any of these. And I do have the tutorial check box in the options checked appropriately...

Welcome You are a bit out of luck, TotE is the last expansion of H5 so it is assumed that you know what's going on - Therefore the gameplay is challenging. The original and HoF had enough tutorial missions, if the same happened with this one I would want to kill myself.
Anyway about your questions:

To get reinforcements you must have a town or visit a dwelling on the adventure map. In town you build unit dwellings that increase growth with citadel and castle dwellings and once you buy them you get a new batch of troops on the next week.

The artifacts in your backpack are meant to be worn on the 'paper doll' and they have various effects. You can sell them in the marketplace or artifact merchants if you wish.

Since you are playing the campaign better to check your quests, objectives change from time to time though you are notified. If you see you have trouble there then play a few scenarios on easy or normal.

I kinda figured that might be the case. But being a stand alone expansion usually means the developer is trying to get people other than just series fans interested in the game. I wouldn't have wanted the campaign to be a tutorial either if I had been playing them all along, but being a new comer, there should be something there to guide a newbie into it. A seperate, skippable tutorial.

I'll keep plugging along, but my first impressions so far is ick... But only because I don't know what I'm doing.

If you really are that new to the HM&M series, I advise you not to start with the relatively difficult TotE campaign.

Try a "custom" game at the easiest level of difficulty. Select a type of game that is a FFA (free for all), because if you choose one of the scripted scenarios with less-free objectives, you might find that too problematical. (Be sure to select the "show multiplayer maps" option at the top of the custom scenario menu.)

A few pointers :

1. Your initial hero should be built-up in experience points to become your main, higher-level hero.

2. Try to construct one town building each & every day.

3. Use your main hero and/or a secondary hero to explore the map and collect undefended goodies.

4. Don't risk your heroes in tough fights. If you loose, reload your current day's save (Select autosave in the game's options : the last 3 days will be saved).

5. Be warned that one way the computer enemies cheat is that they see all the map, at all times : if they spot an exposed weak hero or your weakly defended capital, they will rush towards them. Depending on the size of the map and the number of computer enemies you have, this might or might not happen too soon. If you are caught with your guard down, reload the oldest of your autosaves, and modify your behaviour with the foreknowledge that the enemy might rush.

There are other possible tips, but those are enough to get you going. Feel free to ask questions on this thread.

Thanx for the tips, and yes, I am that new to HoMM. I mosty play RTS and City Building games, but I do have a few turn based games such as Galactic Civilizations 2, and Advance Wars on the DS.

Usually, you play the campaign and it slowly exposes you to the different gameplay elements, so that by the end of the campaign, you're ready to try out the skirmish modes. So in this TotE, it's a bit backwards... I can live with that.

Thanx again, for all the tips...