I'm assuming that you're going to play W60? If so, you'll get troops from the in-game quests (and so do future worlds), so you can easily play (IE farm) without the Paladin. Start out on the rim or semi-rim (IE a few days after a world starts), there won't be as many experienced players there, and you should grow fairly well.
I'm gonna advise you against heavy offense in start up, yes more Axes and LC seems good for farming and clearing of your first villa for nobling, but in reality, the threat of being attacked is very real at start up. Try to go for a mixed troop build for your first few villas, you can easily farm with def troops too, and there are different approaches to clearing a villa than just plain nuking.
If you want to be successful from the start, sad to say, activity abuse is the way to go when you're new to the game. Farm hard, play smart, and read guides to broaden your TW knowledge. This game isn't all that hard to get used to, you should get the hang of it after a couple of weeks of playing.
Cheers!