Rookie Mistakes

[DirectorTsaarx]

Try dropping a load of "riot-control" troops (i.e., small troops with only a troop cockpit, no weapons/shields/armor) onto an enemy planet for an invasion... and watch 100's of troops just get massacred by the militia...

Or forget to keep track of your colonies' happiness - nothing like a sudden message that colony XXX is rioting...

Or retrofit a ship to get new engines, but do the retrofit at a location with no resupply depot...

Or, best of all, attempt to send a message demanding that another empire surrender to yours, and then realize you chose the message to offer YOUR surrender...