How to balance the amount of villagers, military units, upgrading tech, and advancing to a new age?

I played deathmatch with friends a lot so I don't have much experience in low resource game modes. So what's the general rule of thumb for the amount of villagers doing each task and the kind of military units I should have along with all the other stuff? I know that some military units dominate others so if I focus on producing archers then I might be destroyed by some knights. Also, should I start making units in feudal age and how many TCs should I have? Thanks.