Villages come in three types: bronze, silver and gold. Each village will provide a combination of food, wood and iron. All villages are not equal. When you are taking a village, especially at the start of the game. It is important to send enough squads to take them. You can tell the strength of each village-neutral, allied, or enemy-by looking at the frame color around the village health bar.

Average number of squads required to take an unfortified village:
Bronze Village - 1 Squad, Silver Village - 2 Squads, Gold Village - 3 Squads

Exception, viking blacksmiths can upgrade building HP, Viking villages can be harder to take.

Once you control a village be sure to send the villagers back to work. This can be done by directly clicking the village on the battlefield, or by the buttons in the lower right side. It is important to always keep your villages producing.