Let's talk buildings

[Heathcliff]

One reason why you shouldnt build many buildings is because it is easy to not have a gameplan and only build buildings and press end of turn. You have to realise that because of the bonuses the ai gets it will only get stronger if you sit on your but and build buildings and press end of turn.
So you should always have an idea when you will attack next guy and with what and build towards that goal.

 

[TheBirdMan]

It's fantastic, though actually significantly more difficult than the base game at the same level, so it's typically recommended to drop at least a difficulty level from what you're comfortable with normally. It also plays at a much slower pace, but you might find that desirable. (A BtS game normally takes about 3-5 hours for me, and these usually go about 20-25.)

20-25 hours??? Well I count it in weeks. 3-4-5 or even more weeks.

But of course, I play on very big maps (from 160*100 tiles and up to 200*128) with 18 starting nations. Normally Monarch level - never higher.