a few tips (positions in north):
1. if youre rushing to build something which will be deleted later (woodcutter huts or..) try to avoid 7-10 tiles from northen dunes. Dukhs just wont let you to destruct anything, but dont bother about resurcing (stone, iron, farms) - only armed guys are in danger (siege weapons and engineers not).
2. give AIs an advantage from the start (8k is enough) cos they could be too scared to start their economy fast without decent defence for spreding out of keep.