[Makinus]

I never managed to defeat Impossible AIs using the 1 researcher/lab rule, but i can half the time do it against Mighty AIs and consistently against Difficult ones...

I like to play with all empires in a given era, so the maps are normally large (i specially like the Latus one, it is good for some epic games).

I rarely finish the games i start with, normally ending the game when i´m at 1st place with a considerable lead on the 2nd place empire.

As others have said, some empires/tactics make it easier than others... bless factions have a clear advantage here, also a good SC pretender from the start (or at least dormant) will make you go a long way.

Even with the 1 researcher/lab rule i notice that the AIs rarely get ahead of me (with some exceptions when playing AIs above Difficult level), specially since i use all research boosters possible. Lately, instead of building labs everywhere i´m also restricting myself to build labs only where i can recruit a mage type commander (either from a castle, indys or sites).

Finally, i noticed that a higher number of mages in combat will make, at least in the beggining, a good boost to conquering indy provinces... massed fire flies/darts are fun...