Yeah, the fact that the sphereworld needs many starbases, built on the star was in the FAQ on Malfador's site long before it ever came up on these forums. You raise a fair point, the info should have been worked into the text descriptions by now.
This next statement may tick you off, but here it is anyway ... Everyone 'round here knows those rules already. It really isn't worth MM's time to redo it. You got a suprise -- that's all. An expensive one, to be sure. But that is part of the fun.
Someone somewhere loaded up his ships with Shields V, then met the Sergetti with the polaron beam battleships. Too bad for them, start a new game.
I suggest that for you as well. Start another game, you now know the tech tree, so it should be easier. Build a sphereworld around your home star, you'll see -- the game can be fun again.
P.S.
Don't try to board ships with a self destruct device that happens to have destroyed engines -- the description is a deliberate lie by alien engineers, your ship will blow up anyway.
P.P.S.
Play SuicideJunkies P&N mod: That way, when you lose all ships, and can't pay maintenance, and the game scraps some satelites in space as punishment, you won't get a silly message explaning it -- you'll get a well thought out message instead.
P.P.P.S.
Ignore everything I've said if you play against humans, it will all profit you nothing.
Re: Obscure, unintuitive and unforgiving
Enjoy.
), it's time to abandon mines as a viable strategy 
Hybrid Mode
