My F&F group has found the same, that no matter what you are unlocking metal structures while still upgrading to wood or stone, and similar mismatches.
Weve turned our xp down to 0.5 and guess what; we STILL massively outpace the actual game, although so far only up to midgame (metal tier) and with our playstyle (pve). Seems the engram rate is suited, unsurprisingly, to the 2x1 pvp type bases.
PS - base looking fantastic so far.