For a Newcomer, I would actually suggest Nevada. It has more guns and firepower
to get the job done even with bad gunners. The line is straight forward and easy to
use. For an more advanced kinda player, Alaska is the choice.

Alaska's strengths are speed and AA armament. Nevada's strength is firepower. But
firepower with BB1 range does you little good with at level engineers and gunners, while
speed and AA armament can make a decent contribution in a GB2 game by sailing behind the
main BB line and picking off aircraft and approaching smaller ships.

Go both for the variety and extra levels your supports get.

That said, I would suggest going through the Alaska/Guam first. The AA works with
level 50 gunners, while getting decent speed out of the Nevada is difficult with level
90 engineers.