I'm having all kinds of trouble militarily right now. I'm very new to the CIV games which is to say that Civ IV is the first one I've played. Technology-wise, I've been fine lately. My problem is that I find that I am constantly behind when it comes to my military. I can't seem to build enough units nearly fast enough to come even close to my rivals. I don't get it! What am I doing wrong? Literally in my last game...and we were only in the middle ages or so...My two opponents military score was in the 800,000 range...and mine was at 173,000. And I have about 7 cities doing nothing more than popping out units.
SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!

I do understand the basic concepts of city management....but I must be doing something wrong. Any help you can offer would be great!

put aside your ego and drop down one level of difficulty and keep doing that until you have the 800,000 points, then start moving up. if you're already playing at settler, then wait for the help that's sure to come :D

Yeah...I'm up on Noble...but in a custom game, I don't get the option of changing the over nations levels. If I choose a lower setting for myself...does that make it lower for everyone?

If you're playing a custom game, choose a lower level. Just go down a notch, see how that goes, if you're still way behind, go down another notch.

What happens is you play at your level and the AI gets advantages/disadvantages depending on the game level. I believe it's Warlord at which you're equal with the AI, but it might be Noble. In the easier levels, you get bonuses over the AI. At the equal point, no one gets advantages. At the higher levels, barbs attack more often, and the AI gets things like extra starting units or other bonuses.

You might also be lacking city specialization. Pick a few early cities (so they have time to get big) for production. Ideally (at least in my games) they'll be along a river, with a few squares of floodplain, and the rest of the squares being either woody grasslands or hills. Mine the hills, farm the floodplains, and pretty much leave the woods alone (until you get woodshops/workshops). That way you can have a large population (~20), most of them pumping out 3 production a piece. Add in Forge for an extra 25%, then factory for another 25% and some power for another 25%.

These production cities should have a barracks and be giving you units every 2-5 turns.

Your other cities, you can specialize as you prefer. Have a few commerce/science cities who have tons of towns. Have a big great person city or two.

Yeah...I'm up on Noble...but in a custom game, I don't get the option of changing the over nations levels. If I choose a lower setting for myself...does that make it lower for everyone?

If you're new to Civ, Noble is not the place to start. If you look at the mouse-over description for that level, it mentions that veterans of previous civ versions would find it a good place to start. Drop down a level or two until you get the hang of it. And you don't have to set the level for the other civs, that's done automatically.

Thanks guys...I'm going to try these suggestions.

Feel free to offer anything else that comes to mind.

When you are behind in score (millitary), it doesnt directly implies you're weaker comparing with other civs. Having just a few units in your inner city's and having obsolute units will give you a low(er) score. But you don't always need many units in your inner city's. You will also notice that you're score will go up, if you upgrade your obsolute units (cost a lot of cash though).