One thing I thought of that might work nicely - and it makes sense.

Right now, I find that a lot of the problem comes from the fact that your actions happen before the AI gets to move. That is, if you queue up a bunch of units to retrain on your turn, they get retrained before the AI gets to move.

That doesn't make sense. Everyone is moving within the same 6 month period. Why not wait on unit retraining/recruiting until after everyone has moved? That way, if on your turn you strain your resources taking a city, if the AI has an army close, they can move in and attack and have a decent chance of winning.

Bh