I Just do not understand intel!

[Parasite]

Research starts out shared points. One of the first things you should do is unshare them and work on one thing at a time. Intel is the opposite. It starts unshared, but the first thing you should do is share the point load across all projects.

Use your first (or three) project as counter intel to protect against any attacks. All other projects are junk at intel level one. Once you get level 2, start your level two counter intel projects (and remove the level one counter ones after you get some lv2 protection built up. Fill the rest with ship or planet(lv3) takeover projects. If you don't have targets that you are sure will be around in 20 turns when the projects complete, set them to "Any ship" All these attack projects should then finish at once. The next set of projects should be less in number and set to finish in a reasonable amount of time. If a group of them is stopped by counter intel, switch targets and surprise someone else.

If you are being attacked, switch all points into counter intel until they stop or you kill them with ships. Remember with the sharing of points they can add attack points up for years and then make one big attack.