* Defend strategical warp points on the far side, otherwise your ships will end up right next to the enemy ships in combat and take alot of dammage early.
* Use tactical combat mode rather than strategic (the AI is stupid when it comes to combat).
* I STRONGLY second using missiles and backing away from your enemy.
* If one of your enemies are close to you and not too powerfull, wipe out their planetary defenses but not the pop. and the facilities, and leave enough ships at each planet to "defend" it against enemy ships. This way you blockade their planets and thus cut their production of resources. If you do this to enough of his planets and demand his surrender he will budge...sooner or later. And when he does YOU get the remaining worlds. If you don't have enough ships just wipe out the smaller planets (less pop./facilities, not physical size) and just blockade his homeworld(s) and heavy resource producing worlds. Again, try to defend the warppoint into those systems (on the far side
) so you don't have to leave a mult-ship fleet at every planet.
By taking over my enimies in this fasion I have in my current (and previous) game(s) grown MANY times stronger than the remaining enemy empires. It's just too easy to win after you have conquered the first one-two enemies.
[This message has been edited by Joda (edited 31 December 2000).]