I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the game is flawed when it comes to micro vs macro. The intent was that the game should have lots of tactical choices.. it has, at least in the first 10 minutes when you still have to micro your military units, use special abilities etc.
But mid game and late gaming seems to be a contest of who can que up the most villagers and military units from most production facilities. It is more or less impossible for a normal player to micro your battles when you are fighting 10 battles simultaneously all over the map. The game seems flawed to me, but maybe my inital impression will change. It is possible that among the better players the fighting is so intense that you never manage to build up your populations so that the game can become a spam fest.