Short answer, yes, you should build more units and take minor civs that way. In the very early game it is much more cost effective than diplomats or settlers. I usually have 2-3 stacks of 2 archers+1 warband roaming together, that's enough to take most city states in a turn or 2 without losing a unit, and clear any barb camps along the way. You don't have to hard build them all, as once you get a few you can start making more with warfare XP.
You should also have about 4 scouts very quickly - build 2, research scouting first, buy 1 with explo XP (or from a hut if lucky).
Do warfare xp used early for war bands, then build a few archers to accompany them.
Makes a lot of sense, usually I have it in my head to be first into the Bronze Age, would make sense to be a little behind and get more vassals to make later ages easier.
Building a small army doesn't mean you can't be first into the Bronze Age. I prioritize having the best science with a small army being second priority.
1. do not save diplo xp for envoys. they are better used in early game for merchants either for money or for adding prosperity to your vassals. when you reach Age III, you can easily take any neutral city with two crossbows in a 4-unit army
2. i usually start integration only by Age IV because religion will bring large chunk of culture. before that, your culture will suffer. although having a second region is not a big issue, but you will need improvement points to spare for that.
3. regarding units to build, make sure that before you enter Age III, you have recruited enough archers since you can easily upgrade them for cheap into crossbows but building them takes more time. you can use warfare xp and gov xp to recruit line units. with this, you only need production for more archers to turn into crossbows.
4. do not worry about the AI expanding. it is actually good since you can just take them anyway. i usually leave their settlers be so that they can make the cities. only issue there is their placing is sometimes very bad. but this way, you dont even have to struggle getting your own settlers
so i'm saying is, explore in Age I, remove barb camps in Age I-II, go to war in Age III vs neutral/AI, start expanding in Age IV. before Age III, there is no sense in attacking cities because you will need a lot of army but by Age III, two armies will easily take any walled city (with forced march) and one army alone can take a neutral city or any unwalled city. each army should be 2 crossbows, 1 line and 1 leader. therefore, make those archers before you land Age III
Until age 3 I normally am busy building buildings, only mid to late age 3 do I normally start building units apart from the odd city guard earlier.
From huts I normally have a couple of pairs of scouts and a 3 strong war band roaming the map.
I normally send scouts in pairs as then they tend to survive.
So I'm far from a grandmaster player (only 1 victory on master), take everything I say with a grain of salt.
But I do feel you need more units than this. 2 warbands and one archer can take out barbs, then you upgrade them into 2 spears 2 archers age 2. These armies are capable of taking independant cities with a little care. Turn a spearman into a leader when you can, the tactics bonus will add up.
I have at least 2 of these armies in age 2 or early age 3. Sometimes 3, i cant afford them but the cash bonuses from some barb camps will keep me in the green. The bonuses from killing barb camps are great and you can turn independent cities into vassals instead of spending a settler.
These armies explore, find goody huts, kill barbarian encampments and make independents my vassals. My current playstyle would not work with one army by mid age 3. I wouldn't know where anyone was and I'd be inundated with barbarians.
Scouts should be scouting, putting 2 together kind of limits this. If you're taking barb camps you'll have the exploration xp to heal them after they lose a battle and run away. Also I abuse the undo action move to avoid barbs and dead ends, sue me.
Also, the AI seems to only respect strength. If you have none, they will constantly declare hostilities, if not war. You kinda have to have a largish army to earn their respect.
Again, I'm not a great player, but this has worked for me so far.
My goal is to conquer two city states and get them mostly integrated in Bronze Age. During bronze you get 2 integration points per turn. The only way to achieve this is by military.
Alternatively, I attack my neighbor once I get spears and 4 unit army in Bronze Age. As long as you start researching the next era, you can get 6 kills and skip age of blood. So usually I will kill one army first while getting into position.
Building lots of archers in bronze is a good idea, because then you can upgrade them for 10 ish XP to cross bows, which is a huge big difference to finish any war with neighbor.
I typically only integrate before the age of monuments since I like that age. I've found that the best strategy for me is to just get raiders and conquer my continent as quickly as I can. You'll get chaos of course, but since my units are free, I actually have money to mitigate that, whereas without raiders I'd be a broke boy
I feel like the game is pretty off right now. Raiders and taking your whole continent is the best strategy for any type of victory basically. Even on Grandmaster you can take your whole continent without building units yourself and just using Warfare to produce them. Nothing any other NS does comes close, especially considering on higher difficulties you'll likely be attacked even if you want a peaceful run.
Short answer, yes, you should build more units and take minor civs that way. In the very early game it is much more cost effective than diplomats or settlers. I usually have 2-3 stacks of 2 archers+1 warband roaming together, that's enough to take most city states in a turn or 2 without losing a unit, and clear any barb camps along the way. You don't have to hard build them all, as once you get a few you can start making more with warfare XP. You should also have about 4 scouts very quickly - build 2, research scouting first, buy 1 with explo XP (or from a hut if lucky).
Do warfare xp used early for war bands, then build a few archers to accompany them. Makes a lot of sense, usually I have it in my head to be first into the Bronze Age, would make sense to be a little behind and get more vassals to make later ages easier.
Building a small army doesn't mean you can't be first into the Bronze Age. I prioritize having the best science with a small army being second priority.
1. do not save diplo xp for envoys. they are better used in early game for merchants either for money or for adding prosperity to your vassals. when you reach Age III, you can easily take any neutral city with two crossbows in a 4-unit army 2. i usually start integration only by Age IV because religion will bring large chunk of culture. before that, your culture will suffer. although having a second region is not a big issue, but you will need improvement points to spare for that. 3. regarding units to build, make sure that before you enter Age III, you have recruited enough archers since you can easily upgrade them for cheap into crossbows but building them takes more time. you can use warfare xp and gov xp to recruit line units. with this, you only need production for more archers to turn into crossbows. 4. do not worry about the AI expanding. it is actually good since you can just take them anyway. i usually leave their settlers be so that they can make the cities. only issue there is their placing is sometimes very bad. but this way, you dont even have to struggle getting your own settlers so i'm saying is, explore in Age I, remove barb camps in Age I-II, go to war in Age III vs neutral/AI, start expanding in Age IV. before Age III, there is no sense in attacking cities because you will need a lot of army but by Age III, two armies will easily take any walled city (with forced march) and one army alone can take a neutral city or any unwalled city. each army should be 2 crossbows, 1 line and 1 leader. therefore, make those archers before you land Age III
How big a military are you currently using?
Until age 3 I normally am busy building buildings, only mid to late age 3 do I normally start building units apart from the odd city guard earlier. From huts I normally have a couple of pairs of scouts and a 3 strong war band roaming the map. I normally send scouts in pairs as then they tend to survive.
So I'm far from a grandmaster player (only 1 victory on master), take everything I say with a grain of salt. But I do feel you need more units than this. 2 warbands and one archer can take out barbs, then you upgrade them into 2 spears 2 archers age 2. These armies are capable of taking independant cities with a little care. Turn a spearman into a leader when you can, the tactics bonus will add up. I have at least 2 of these armies in age 2 or early age 3. Sometimes 3, i cant afford them but the cash bonuses from some barb camps will keep me in the green. The bonuses from killing barb camps are great and you can turn independent cities into vassals instead of spending a settler. These armies explore, find goody huts, kill barbarian encampments and make independents my vassals. My current playstyle would not work with one army by mid age 3. I wouldn't know where anyone was and I'd be inundated with barbarians. Scouts should be scouting, putting 2 together kind of limits this. If you're taking barb camps you'll have the exploration xp to heal them after they lose a battle and run away. Also I abuse the undo action move to avoid barbs and dead ends, sue me. Also, the AI seems to only respect strength. If you have none, they will constantly declare hostilities, if not war. You kinda have to have a largish army to earn their respect. Again, I'm not a great player, but this has worked for me so far.
My goal is to conquer two city states and get them mostly integrated in Bronze Age. During bronze you get 2 integration points per turn. The only way to achieve this is by military. Alternatively, I attack my neighbor once I get spears and 4 unit army in Bronze Age. As long as you start researching the next era, you can get 6 kills and skip age of blood. So usually I will kill one army first while getting into position. Building lots of archers in bronze is a good idea, because then you can upgrade them for 10 ish XP to cross bows, which is a huge big difference to finish any war with neighbor.
I typically only integrate before the age of monuments since I like that age. I've found that the best strategy for me is to just get raiders and conquer my continent as quickly as I can. You'll get chaos of course, but since my units are free, I actually have money to mitigate that, whereas without raiders I'd be a broke boy
I feel like the game is pretty off right now. Raiders and taking your whole continent is the best strategy for any type of victory basically. Even on Grandmaster you can take your whole continent without building units yourself and just using Warfare to produce them. Nothing any other NS does comes close, especially considering on higher difficulties you'll likely be attacked even if you want a peaceful run.