[Pax]

Originally posted by LGM:
Variation: If you have a high shipyard reate, you might buil a few escort ships at normal build for a turn or two and then go crazy building colonizers. You can use the Last couple of turns to build orbital shipyards, however, I only recommend doing that if you have no good places to send a colonizer or if you start next to a possible rival.

Funny, I'd put in an orbital shipyard FIRST. If EBuild gives you the orbital yard in 2 or 3 turns net, the restof the 7 or 8 turns of the planet's EBuild, the ORBITAL spaceyard can also pop out a coloniser, or else a couple population transports to move pop to the new colonies.

Or a half-dozen early satellites, to augment defenses of the HW and/or park at strategic locations out of the home system.