What ways do you play?

With the new dlc on the horizon I've been thinking about jumping back in playing another run. The problem is I never finish a game; Even though I've put in close to 80 hours. So just recently while watching some dev logs and YouTubers I started to wonder if maybe I'm just playing the game in an 'un-fun' way. Or at least maybe I'm not getting the best out of AOW4

So that brings me to my question. What ways do you play this game? What is your go-to way to play this game?

Do you play on the hardest difficulty for a challenge or time or back for a relaxing game? Do you play a specific map type, game length?

What are your tips for getting the most out of AOW4?

Edit I usually play on hard with a map I liken to middle earth - so it's got a bit of everything, nothing crazy. Otherwise everything else is fairly vanilla.