If you were in the Tacoma area I would recommend play testing before you commit in our group. Being that you are in the Portland area, I believed there is a solid group at Terra Crux (sp?). Point being, you need to see which special rules match your style of play along with the model variations. You also might consider picking a core nation (GE, BR or RU) and avoid micros or special nations because you want a nation that plays Early War all the way to the end or run the risk of building multiple companies to play the theater everyone picks.
Armor lists tend to be cheaper on the pocket book, but are harder to win with.
Russians require a painting standard that will test your mental will because there are so darn many of them
Good luck