Micromanagement (known as micro) is a strategy element that involves selecting specific types of units and using them carefully to execute specific maneuverings. It is a difficult but important skill to master, as it allows a player to greatly reduce their casualties and defeat their opponents with a minimally sized army. This is as opposed to macromanagement, which consists of managing units on the scale of every unit.
In all games throughout the series, it is an important skill, but particularly to civilizations that handle fast or tricky units (especially if they are fragile or easily countered, e.g. by spear/pike/bayonet units), such as cavalry, and to ones that possess unconventional traits.
Villager micromanagement is another vital element to consider, as it, if executed properly, greatly reduces Villager idle time which increases the overall resource generation rate. The less time Villagers walk or idle the more time they spend gathering/building. Therefore, it is important to always check for idle Villagers (best done with the assigned shortcut) and make sure that drop-off points are not far from the gathered resource. Furthermore, it should be made sure that Villagers do not clutter and slow themselves down. It can be more effective to work a Gold Mine with 10 Villagers than with 20.
Buildings are another element to consider here, as they, too, want to be busy, especially Town Centers. In the early stages of the game, it is crucial to keep the Town Center working at all times.
Tactics[]
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By focus firing, ranged units can quickly eliminate enemy units. It is better to eliminate units one-by-one, as a dead enemy is unable to deal any damage. Ranged units should ideally be moving between shots, especially against melee units, where they can fire while taking little damage. Attack delay is a big factor in the effectiveness of ranged units in this context.
When facing ranged units, using the flank formation makes it possible to quickly avoid projectiles, especially slow projectiles like the Mangonel's.
Micromanagement greatly favors not only ranged units, but also fast units. This is because faster units can both force fights and avoid fights against slower units.
Age of Empires II[]
Heavy Cavalry Archers, an example of micro-intensive units
Several units greatly benefit from micromanagement.
- Crossbowmen and other archers, as they will otherwise be countered by enemy cavalry, particularly Knights.
- Cavalry units and mounted archers, which need to be able to maneuver around enemy Spearmen-line units.
- Monks, with their very powerful ability to convert enemy units from range, but have low durability and a high cost.
- Coustilliers, as they have a high charge attack but a low damage output when engaged in combat for an extended duration.
- Rathas, with their ability to change between melee and ranged mode, allows them to adapt to the enemy.
In addition, some civilizations have "double-edged sword" civilization bonuses that require good micromanagement to use to the fullest effect and can backfire on the player if used improperly.
- Chinese : Start with -200 food, -50 wood, and three extra Villagers.
- Cumans: Can build a second Town Center in the Feudal Age.
- Khmer: Can build any building or advance to the next Age without the prerequisite.
- Saracens: Can use their Market to exchange resources with minimal cost.
Age of Empires III[]
An example of micro-intensive civilization: Sioux warband and Teepees
- Ottomans: They are considered by many people the most difficult civilization to properly play, due to their longer, automatic "spawning" of Settlers, their limited if powerful selection of units, their population limits on Settlers and their dependence on artillery (making them highly vulnerable to Culverins). Sipahis are sent from their Home City, artillery are available earlier and Mosques are mandatory to exploit their quirks, meaning micro is imperative.
- Portuguese: A lack of Settler cards plus free Covered Wagons means that while they have a harder start, once they reach the Fortress Age, they can potentially use many tricks up their sleeve, such as placing Town Centers close to waterways (gunning down thus Fishing Boats and other unlucky ships) or strike enemies with Organ Guns and early Dragoon rushes. They also require micromanagement for other reasons: a Portuguese Explorer (mind, 3 can be brought from the Home City) should abuse his Spyglass ability correctly to spy accurately an enemy, whereas Cassadores are really strong offensively (and tough at range), but also frail at melee and easily dispatched by artillery.
- Lakota: Not needing to build Houses (as they start with 200 population) may make the Lakota seem simple to play, but their lack of walls, high dependence on natural resources and their cavalry-oriented (if still balanced) forces, as well as the auras their War Chief and Teepees provide, mean they are one of the most difficult to play civilizations in the entire game. On top of that, certain of their units, namely the Tashunke Prowler and Rifle Rider, have certain quirks that require much mirco; Rifle Riders have the best ROF of all ranged units, but struggle against light ranged cavalry, whereas Prowlers need to be in groups and sneaky in order to be effective.
Age of Empires IV[]
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