[jimbob]

Not to reply for Geo, but I would use his method of a "mothballed construction center" as the back up in case things go wrong (like one of the front lines collapses, etc.). The mothballed bases would be located in a backwater area, unlikely to be probed by others, and so it's whereabouts would be unknown (the only change I'd make is to have 10 - 15 in a storm, with two unmothballed).

The majority of construction would still happen on my front lines and out of my home planets, but woe to those whose front lines collapse with no recourse! (it's always easier to reinforce from a central position than around the perimeter).

As to mothballing the ships that are constructed... I'd do this in a high cost research game, but in normal and low cost games the ships are improving to rapidly, and I couldn't be bothered to retrofit hundreds of ships every 10 turns. If they're old, scrap them for the resources (or mothball with the intention of scrapping them later) and only retrofit the experienced ships.

IMO