[Master Belisarius]

To take over planets, I was using as first strategy "Optimal Fire Range", and as second strategy, "Drop Troops".

In my experience, this was better than the "Capture Planet" strategy, because with the Capture Planet strategy, a lot of times the AI sent first the Transport with the troops to die under the Planet defenses... but with the other strategy, the fleet first destroy the defenses, and then, take over the planet.