Continent, killed off AI, what after war?

[Raralith]

Howdy ya'll. I never played any of the other Civ's and started this game a few weeks ago. I have learned a lot from reading these forums though, and I am pretty confident in my begining game. I'm working on prince now and moving to monarch soon, but my end game is just really sloppy.

Basicly, I chop for a settler, usually two for resources, than go for 2 axes and 6 to 8 swordsman. I rush for the closet enemy aiming for their capital, than get a 10 turn treaty and some techs. I usually finish them off with Cats and elephants, if there are elephants, because I go for construction after. What should I do now tech and expansion wise?

Tech wise I am really unsure. I really do not like the space race, and not a big fan of cultural or diplomatic - I want to destroy things. That leaves conquest and domination. Should I tech up to rifleman ASAP or knights in the middle ages? Or is it better to wait for modern armor and tanks? Wait for planes so I can bomb people? A lot of artillerary? What is the best tech path for war mongering?

[emills]

Aside from some really early UU that can rush out of the gate, it seams war/conquest points begin when you get,

1. swordsmen (Rome gets big advantage with Praetorian)
2. cavalry (Russia get big advantage with Cossack)
3. tanks (Germany get big advantage with panzer)

Now this is not a complete list and other UU can make a start-war point if the situation is right. My favorite UU is the Cossack, since they can dominate any unit up to but not quite including infantry and then with the correct support or usage change are still valid up to tanks/gunships. Heck Cossacks make a quicker defensive reactionary force than gunships against infantry/SAM infantry since the cossacks get the road/railroad movement help while gunships do not.