Start + Select + L + R

Someone dies? Restart the chapter and try again. At least, that's how I always play each game, as it becomes a game not about minimizing losses, but instead attempting to eradicate them completely by using high-level strategic thinking.

First off welcome to Fire Emblem :)

The first game in the series is always brutal. You made a good choice to start with this game since it has the casual thingy. But yeah when a character you really like dies, you just have to restart, it sucks but it has to be done. 

It's definitely a challenge, but it's still fairly doable. The trick is to use those ruins at the center of the map to divide the enemy forces into two: the ones on the left have only one or two magic users, and a ton of physical attackers, so get your best Defense/Speed characters on that end (for me, that was Kjelle), pair them up appropriately, equip him/her/them with a strong projectile, and let them thin the enemy ranks. This obviously depends on having a physical powerhouse, and even then expect them to take a pounding, but it worked for me: just make sure they have Elixirs...

Meanwhile, the enemies on the right side should be attacked more proactively: now's the time to use your Galeforce units to snipe off the weaker units (most notably mages), then use your staff-users to Rescue them out of harm's way. If your Galeforcers are/are paired with mounted units, you should get exactly two turns of this before that wave starts spilling over to threaten your forces on the left, so use them judiciously. By the third turn, there shouldn't be too many survivors. Rush them with the rest of your army to mop up.

Actually, I just go with Start + L + R, for the quick reset. But yeah, the nerve rending of watching a character you spent so much time developing dying because you did something foolish like leading them into a position on the map where they are in the range of a bunch enemies that all focus their attacks on them, is part of what makes Fire Emblem.

The Support ocnversations that build up their personalities is only just more salt to add to the wound when you fail and one or more them fall. One of these days I will complete a run where I let them stay dead... probably won't be until the next game though, I love the characters in this one too much for any of them to stay down. 

Anyone have any tips? It seems like i am just playing the game without grasping the concepts or mastering the strategy :(

Thanks. I managed to clear it yesterday thanks to Sol (the skill that replenish your HP time to time when you hit). I used Kjelle as one of the main defenders too :)

Now throwing myself in the DLCs!

Check this tips, really good for newcomers. 

http://kotaku.com/5981450/tips-for-playing-fire-emblem-awakening

The only one I don't agree with is grinding. On normal this isn't really necessary, but since this is your first time playing the game you might want to do it, although don't exaggerate too much because imo it takes the fun out of the game. 

Also, when you get a chance ALWAYS do the overworld missions where there's a merchant and enemies in the same map, and make sure the merchant doesn't die, you get some really nice rewards for saving her.

Pay attention to what enemies said during the battle, you will hear that reinforcements are coming, so you should put a character in a fort or stairs, this will help you a lot.

If it is possible only lure 1 enemy at a time, this will become a problem in later chapters so you better always have a tank (for both defense and resistance) that can take multiple hits from various enemies. But make sure the tank doesn't kill the enemy because he or she will take all of the exp, leaving your other characters with no enemies to kill. That's why my tanks have really low speed (so they can only hit the enemy once and thus the chance of killing them are low) or simple unequip his or her weapons (remember the tanks work is to lure enemies and not kill them).

This depends on the specific map you are doing, but for the most part you want all your characters to be together (or at least 2 big separate groups). Never leave 1 character alone, no matter how overpower you think he or she is. 

Check the best possibilities you have. For example: you will always want the hit percentage to be 100% (less than 80% I consider risky), so make sure the hit percentage is as high as possible, and also vice versa (that enemy has a low hit percentage). Make sure the enemy has a low (preferably 0%) of crit chance, there's nothing more annoying than dying from a crit. Keep in mind that a critical hit is 3x of a normal attack, so if you are going against an enemy that has a high crit chance (because he has a killer weapon for example) make sure your character can take the hit even if the enemy gets the critical.

ALWAYS check the weapons of enemies surrounding you. And make sure your that your characters are safe from their weapons (at the right of the weapon you will see what the weapon is super effective against). For example: keep your flying units out of the range of archers and wind magic, or heavy armor units out of hammers and rapiers range.

What's the point of resetting on death? Just play on casual mode...

That's for the weak!

But for me is because I'm so used to previous FE games where there's simple no option. Having perma deaths makes the missions more tense and force you to be more careful because you know that one mistake will result in the characters death. 

Or maybe I'm just a masochist with videogames

So, if you chose permadeath, then you should not be resetting on deaths.

Or maybe there should be another option... half deaths for the in betweeen people.