Jumping in at the deep end

[Fyron]

Jtownsend said:
1. An emergency build 11 colony ships - wise? These will have to be 3 engines only with my 120 construction, afaik.

You can either retrofit them to add the rest of the engines, or you can take the Hardy Industrialists racial trait. I prefer the latter myself.

2. Early research - I understand I want minelayers for the near sides of warp points?

Mines are good in the early game. As are Point Defense Cannons. Mines are available from Construction tech, then Mines. PDC are available from Military Science, then Point Defense Weapons.

And there is a tech bonus on turn 1?

Yes. some extra research points, depending on game settings.

What might I want to spend that on?

Whatever you want to get first. Construction or Military Science is usually a good idea.

My ideal fleet "shape" from what I've read, is destroyers/light cruisers with direct fire weapons and some PDC. How do I get there?

Light Cruisers are available with Ship Construction 4. Due to mounts, you do not want to build any warship Destroyers after you get Light Cruisers, except possibly as missile ships or boarding ships. But direct fire weapon ships should all be Light Cruisers. They do 50% more damage than Destroyers due to Large Weapon Mounts.

3. Early facility builds - is there sort of a basic rote for the 1-5 facility colonies and then another basic rote for larger, wealthier colonies?

Depends on what resources you need to produce more of, really. Minerals and research are quite important. Some of those colony ships you build should travel to semi-distant systems, colonize small worlds, and build Space Yards. They will then start building new colony ships.