Archonsod:
There IS a select military only feature in AoE III, has to be enabled in options.
I got all the AoE games, my fav so far is AoE III, the game play is quite a bit faster. While in 2 my games lasted around an avg of 2 hours, in 3 they last around 45mins.
At first glance, 3 doesn't seem to have that many features, but then when you look into all the unique units, mercs, natives, etc. it seems to have more units than all the others combined!
Also, since its set in the age of gunpowder, its kinda hard to learn the rock-papers-scissor pattern in it... for starters, cavalry is NOT a counter for infantry, your gonna loose that army of Hussars if you rush the musketeers!
Ship battles are amazing, especially if you have a subwoofer and volume turned up. Finally, ship battles don't look like a bunch of bees fighting each other on the water, can't build that many ships and they take a beating, so now I find myself trying to save my ships and using them individually instead of swarming the enemy with numbers.
Economy is also pretty low maintenance, and there are several ways to get more resources after the map has been drained (plantations, mills, factories, tradeposts, markets, whaling).
The game also concentrates on offensive, not defensive, your walls won't last too long under a barrage of falconets or mortars.
Shipments add a nice touch, you have to take into account what shipments you can receive, and when you want to receive them, adds another layer of strategy to the game.
And the explorer gives you something to do while the game cranks up, you can use him to add a small advantage to your town (treasure resources), scout out the enemy and a few other tasks.
And each civilization is SO different. On the surface they look similar, but once you dig in a bit, you'll see they get vastly different shipments, VERY different unique units and techs.
So basically, its is a VERY deep game. If you like playing games casually without getting into em, you may find it kinda slow. But if you like games with a bit more depth, and several layers of gameplay, you just might like it.
And that was my review...
BTW, any one here on ESO?
P.S.
What's your favorite civ?
I personally prefer the Spanish, they get quick shipments to help you get up to speed, explorer gets a free wardog, essentially gives you 2 scouts (dog+explorer) GREAT advantage at the beginning. The Lancers are surprisingly useful against most things, they get all the artillery, and there is just something about their old skool style that attracts me (they concentrate greatly on melee troops like pikes and lancers instead of gunpowder like the other civs)