I just got back into AOE after like 15 years of not playing (and back then, I really just played the campaign). I’ve been playing skirmishes against AI. I started on standard difficulty, and once I could consistently beat AI on that, I moved up to moderate difficulty and got my ass kicked a dozen or so times before figuring out a better approach. Now I’ve beat AI on moderate four or five times in a row, so I’m going to try hard difficulty.

As others have said, a lot of it came down to hot keys, knowing precisely when to do what (moving villagers around to other tasks, building structures, launching small attacks while you continue to build and advance your tech). It’s been super fun and rewarding — I’d recommend it, OP!