Okay, at one point, i was bronzing in about 12 minutes with EVERY civ i played with (key words: "I played with" i don't play a lot w/ persians, greeks, babs, but most any other civ is okay). but that was with 20 vils, and i found that that style did not suit me very well. my opps were all resigning by about 17 minutes b/c of my initial 6 CA's that came running through their towns when they were only just getting to bronze (usually before that). so i started reading up on powerups, and now i bronze in about 15 minutes with minoans and a huge powerup. about 25 vils and about 20 boats, often more than that b/c i have so much wood, and i'm still pumping out boats when i get to bronze (remember that minoans don't get ca's, so no huge wood drain there). I'm sure that if i were not so intent on busting out so many FBs i could cut my time down by a minute or more. Of course my fave map is medit, so i'll be going from there. I drop a granary first unless i'm shang, in which case i'll pit first on the sea.
first 6 on berries, 7th head for the ocean, 8th and 9th on wood, 10th on house then wood, 11th-13th wood, 14th house, 15th wood (don't ask me why i take so darn long to collect 120 wood or whatever it takes to build a stinking pit), 16th goes for the pit (hopefully) on the sea with about 4 sf beside a forest, then all my woodies go to the pit. 17th-20th goes on the fish, but usually by this time, i've docked with my first explorer somewhere. 21st-25th or however many i feel i can safely make goes on the wood, and i never have a problem with wood again. as soon as my first 6 berry guys get down to 1 bush left, they make their way usually to another spot of 5 sf (4 will do, usually no less) or if that's not available, they go for the second berries, which have usually been found, or ele's by forest. these are the guys that i use to mine gold when i start my bronze upgrade.
even with 2 docks, i'll almost always be getting more FBs. of course there comes a point when one dock is going to run out of nearby fish (using the 1 FB per hole rule) and only the 2nd dock is pumping out the fish. normally, i'll experience a slight pause in FB production b/c i need about 400 wood (300 for the building, and 94 for the first scout ship), but once i'm sure i can get it, the FB's start coming out again. thus i end up with about 20+ FBs before i ever hit the bronze button.
then comes the wonderful 2:30 window where i just sort of stockpile resources. after i get my first scout ship, i save 75 wood for the woodcutting upgrade, then it's back to producing scout ships, up to about 5 or so. Berry guys (who should've turned into fishermen by now and maybe finished) gets on gold. that 7th peons that went exploring will start another range, and then another, then build however many houses it can before i hit bronze, then another range. research wheel, improved bowman, upgrade fish boats and war galleys, run out of wood at this point, but it doesn't matter b/c all the important upgrades have been done and i've still got a crapload of food which i, of course, make a more peons with who go on wood (not the same pit. build another and efficiency increases, as i've recently learned and experienced).
research composite bowmen, build more houses, begin pumping out your improved bowmen from your other ranges, build more galleys and take out opp's fleet. food still shouldn't be a problem yet. i have about 500 food in store at all times. wood might become a problem as the galleys are being pumped out, but if you've got two work areas going, it's just a few seconds delay.
by the 20 minute mark, i usually have an army of about 9 composites and a navy of about 6 galleys (this is because i'm fighting for the sea too and some of my other galleys have found their way to the bottom of the ocean). by about 25 minutes, my compie's are tearing up CA's left and right. if my explorer hasn't died to lions/gators, it will have built a third, maybe fourth dock by now, and boats are being transferred.
okay, of course wall is researched somewhere in there too, and i really don't watch my times once i get to bronze, so these are just from the games that i did happen to look up to see how i progressed. gov't center for me, btw, comes after i get my wood fairly stabilized due to my warring ship production.
well, i have to eat lunch now. i've got a great example of how this works, not just in a normal game, but where i got tool rushed by shang. i'll post that after i satisfy my stomach. of course this wouldn't happen if i were minoan and had 20+ FBs, now would i?
i still maintain that if someone compiled about 5 of my posts, they could potentially make a novel.