I'll try to provide more details on what I'm doing in response to Thorfinn.
Here's a typical scenario. The game is 2v2 or 3v3, 125-population, continental, no Shang, 125 pop. I play Hittites with Minoan and or Phoenician allies. People rarely take Assyrians or Yamatos, so the fastest civilizations faced are Phoenicians. What I try to do is hurt at least one opponent badly in bronze, link up with my allies in late bronze, then iron, and roll over the remaining enemies with ground forces. Since I ally with good water civilizations, I usually leave the water to them.
I tool a minute before my opponent and build a scout and 3 archery ranges by my base on the way to bronze. I don't usually scout the enemy with villagers, but rely on the scout since I don't attack until bronze.
I bronze in 16 minutes with 19 villagers and 5 fishing boats. The boomer bronzes in 18 minutes with 40+ villagers/fishing boats. His pop only passes mine when I tool. When I reach bronze I research the wheel and build chariot archers from 3 ranges. I always have both woodcutting upgrades (and leather archer armor if I'm facing a stable unit civilization) before I attack, but not nobility yet. By now the scout has found the enemy's woodcutters, so I send 3-6 chariot archers into the middle of them. The villagers scatter and my chariot archers are whittled down by towers and stray camels/cavalry as I hunt them. I kill 10-15 villagers but don't disrupt his fishing.
I keep building chariot archers and villagers and try to build an outpost near the enemy with my 2nd town center, siege workshops, and more archery ranges. If things go well, my outpost gets established, and I finish off his town with stone throwers backed by chariot archers while hunting down his remaining villagers with scouts and chariot archers. If I make it this far, my team usually wins. But, often, chariot archers or camels defeat my follow up chariot archers, and I don't get my outpost established. Then the tables are turned on me as his force descends on my town.
I've considered tool rushing, but it seems hard to do on the big maps in ROR. Villagers have to walk a long way to find the enemy. Also, fighting in tool slows down my bronze time and leaves me vulnerable to my enemy's allies when they come to help.
I've considered using camels in bronze, since they don't have to wait for the wheel upgrade. The problem is the cavalry upgrades for the camels seem a waste since my best units are archers and cats, and I don't usually make scythes unless gold runs low.
I've considered going heavy on war galleys, since boomers rely on fishing boats so much and Hittites have great bronze ships. The problem is I'm always wood poor in bronze, and boomers are wood rich.
I think I let the boomers get too well established. By the time I attack, I'm already at a disadvantage.
My plan is to start scouting more with villagers so I can find the enemy and forward build archery ranges in tool. This will allow me to do resource equalisation with a handful of archers while upgrading to bronze, and build my chariot archers right on top of the enemy.
What does everyone think?
Come on. Let me have it. I can take it.