I've just recently learned about this games and I'm thinking about buying it on release day. Before I do, I have one question that I would like answered. I've seen many posts on micro and whether it has a place in this game. These posts usually end up with many people saying "it's not a click-fest yay!", but no one has said whether there is a place for micro in this game.

I play a lot of Rise of Nations (the original) with my friends because I we really enjoy the balance between building a massive economy and deeply tactical battles. I play a very economical game and usually outproduce my main rival by a decent margin. My room-mate sometimes manages to beat me by careful micro of units including intelligent counters and flanking. I really enjoy this "click-fest" element because otherwise I would always beat him and we wouldn't play anymore.

So, I'm really glad that I can now build intelligent fleets and really get the most out of my ability to build big armies, but if I have these big fleets and they're all really smart how can my room-mate hope to win. I don't want to hear the whole "get better at booming argument" because booming should not be the only viable strategy. Can a player who focuses on micro-level control and super-elite units in small numbers hope to compete with an economic juggernaut with light defences and a large late game army?