Most importantly, this means that you can analyze the situation and issue orders to any and all of your units, all within the instant of time determined by how long it takes you to press the F3 key. In Age of Empires 2, the Pause feature has been modified so that you can take any possible game action while the game is paused. There are also other useful procedures that are non-military in nature. Avoiding the fire of an enemy archer would be a tactical maneuver. An operational plan would be to send the shock troops in first, supported by foot archers, and followed by combat engineers, while the cavalry harasses the rear areas. For example, one strategy in a multi-opponent situation would be to concentrate all your forces against one opponent.
'Strategy' refers to overall considerations. 'Operations' refers to maneuvers that large groups of units use, or that take place over a large part of the battlefield. In AoE, 'tactics' refers to maneuvers that individual units or small groups of units use to accomplish their objectives.
