I tend to play that way myself, and have recently discovered Elizabeth and England. Liz is Financial/Philosophical, and England's UU and UB are Redcoat (Rifleman) and Stock Exchange (Bank). Both of these items can be beelined, though the starting techs leave a little to be desired, but it turns out not to be a handicap.
Nonetheless, twice now I have gotten to my Redcoats well before anyone else even got their muskets, and at that point, it becomes a simple matter to wipe out any 2 or 3 other players I want to to fuel my continued growth. So far, by the time I'm done laying the smack down and taking over my continent and important surroundings, that's been enough to slide me into a Domination victory earlier than for anyone else I've played under.
But, of course, that doesn't mean you have to go on a conquering high... you could just as easily leverage that tech lead into a larger tech lead and launch your space ship before anyone else even gets Flight.
I suppose if I could make myself spam cottages, I might get even more of a tech lead, but I don't see the point of having a tech lead if I can't build the troops to defend it in under 100 turns each. That beng said, I still dangerously underbuild my army before that point, and have come to rely on the draft once I get muskets and rifles - very cheap way of getting these units.
