Is the game more similar to AoW1 or AoW2?

To elaborate, it plays like AOW 2/Shadow Magic but your leader is an actual hero unit like the first game instead of just sitting in your capital all day.

Exactly! That's why I really like it. I can fight with my leader! Though you can also choose to sit in your capital and do nothing. =P

I do get immersed into the story and it's a bit slower paced, or I am just slower cause I'm still learning. It feels more like SM but with the greatness of AoW 1.

Awesome, i love AoW1.

You feel the AoW 1 spirit in the hero being important and I like the story. Also the music has a lot of remastered/mixed AoW 1 songs, which is great. However, it is definately more like SM than SM though. You have to upgrade cities and enemy attacks first when you attack them. Also the movement reduces the amount of shots you can fire like SM.

what I don't like/understand is the things like mines. I see a mine and then it becomes mine automatically but it doesn't seem to work/

Mines, nodes and such things work automatically only if they are in your territory (in the borders of your cities and fortresses. Unless there are enemy troops on them, in which case they don't work at all.
So it's useless to conquer mines half a map away. You have to build/conquer an actual city/fort near them to use them.

That is how it works in Civ IV.

@ topic: feels like a mix of AoW 1, SM, and Civ IV. :-)