Quoting plzblv, reply 4
Well, by the same token, what's the fun of rushing to all the uber end game techs? I quite enjoy the early game exploration and expansion with early era (i.e. crappy) units. Whether you rush to take 2-3 AIs out early is up to you, I only do it if they declare war on me or I've totally run out of places to expand to peacefully. If the AI is aggressive and declares war on me, I don't feel guilty at all about putting some fire giant hurt on them and taking their cities.
It seems to me there are more phases in the game than just rushing to the highest techs.
There is an era where the best of the best are clad in leather armor perhaps with a tier 2.5 weapon(battleaxe/longsword/warhammer I think this is what they are) but more often not. Perhaps you have amulets on your troops if you had crystal early. Spider minions.
You have your first kids in this or the next.
Era of plate if you went warfare or legendary plate and tier 3+ weapons if you had a crystal and teched magic. Your next set of kids is progressively godlier.
Era of best diplomatic minions, units with best weapons/armor, and hard hitting spells. Your kids solo their armies.
My point is that because of the likelihood of early war the robe/staff fighting era is disproportionately long vs the leather armor era.