I prefer the slow build up to a massive military. Normally a game that takes a few hours ^^

I've played countless of hours when it comes to Age of Empires. It was such a great game, I haven't played it for many years though.
A great suggestion, and it has my Yes!

Lords of magic, nice name drop..

voted yes.

I used to be like you, but as I got better I adopted the new style. If you want to play vs other players instead of just the computer you will need to learn to get to the castle age in the first 10 minutes and build up military fast. By 15 minutes into the game I will already have my city walls up and will be hitting you with a dozen upgraded knights. they will have 2+2/2+2 armor, and if you are not in the castle age with a built up military and the blacksmith upgrades, your hits will only do 1-2 dmg per hit against my knights and u will fall fast. Meanwhile i will continue to make more and more knights and the attack will never stop... soon I will send out villagers to build stables and siege workshops closer to my enemies for faster replenish, and so the war path begins until they all fall... i feel like i have already said too much. my full guide is pimp i can probably just post it though because no one can do what i do even if they read about it. my mouse moves so fast for the first 25 minutes of each game it is crazy. i work it like clockwork each time and know exactly what to do when. by 25 minutes in I am already in imperial with 60 villagers working for me and 60 military units of just siege and knights with the first enemy already wiped out. most players are not even in imperial by then and have about half the units.