Does tactics play a role in PA micro?

Micromanagement isn't making lots of decisions in a short amount of time. It's about giving lots of instructions to a [comparatively] small number of units.


I can have a high APM, and it still won't be micromanagement if I'm telling lots of units to do different things.

Micromanagement and APM are entirely separate things.

Think about what it means if your boss / manager micromanages you - they're basically overseeing every little task that you should know how to do already.

In Starcraft, the units are the idiot employees that NEED micromanaging - they barely do anything right without you being right there telling them exactly what to do!

In PA I would hope that units are smart employees who do their job to the best of their ability and stop making you do their job for them!

Right, there is always a border where unit control stays reasonable - and a point where it turns into ridiculous micromanagement.

Plan for PA is, to give units a decent squad AI. They will know which target to focus, how to hold formation (e.g. which units to send to the front and which to keep back, always staying in optimal distance) or when to start kiting. However, they will only operate in a certain area. They won't just start marching for the enemy base or start patrolling on their own.

Controlling the units happens on a rather high level, you don't give them actual target, but some type of high level intent (first order command) which is then split into multiple sub-commands by the game. Added, you have the possibility to restrict the unit AI not to use certain actions, like forcing them to hold fire (even though the squad AI thinks, that it would be wise to attack), to hold position (even though the squad AI thinks that it should kite / charge), not to use active abilities like repairing, reclaiming or to toggle passive abilities like stealth or personal shields. There are also SOME abilities which are NEVER under AI control, such as factories, construction of buildings, the famous D-gun and self destruction.

But OP, the entire point of TA/SC/PA is that there is macro where there is usually micro!

The problem with Starcraft is not that it's tactics-heavy, but that it forces you to do busywork that A. could be done optimally by a machine (a classic sign that a player should not be doing it) and B. gets in the way of actual thinking for newer players. One of my friends who likes Starcraft just said today that "on the lower levels of the ladder, you could use the worst strategy and still win, as long as you have a high enough APM." Now there's definitely a market for that kind of game, and Starcraft is pretty fun once you're good at it (something I've never managed), but the TA spiritual family is built on a different philosophy that I personally prefer.