So, I've owned the game for a while, and Have been casually playing on difficulty 6 lately (I know, people say the game sucks below 7, but I'm a very casual video-game player, and the AI gives me a good ass kicking as-is, so I think I'm on my level). I heavily rely on spire ships (w rails, highest I can stick in each slot) and my champion(s, set as Spire with ion/rail spam w 3 shields) as my offensive fleet, and use bottlenecks (Station parked at wormhole defended by forcefields and turret spam) and my remaining fleet to defend while I attack the AI/obtain objectives.
I normally have 1 AI with Hybrid 5, Adv Hybrid 1, and the other Astrotrain 5. I also use almost all the different minor factions (I'm still experimenting, but I always have the traders, fallen spire, spire civillians, golems(Botnet too) on easy, Human murauders, human resistance, dyson sphere, nomad planets (With only 1 nomad), Exodian blade (Still have not rescued it...), rocket corps, roaming enclaves (10), dark spire (4-6), and Easy spirecraft.) I also use alt chap progress (10) and Nemesis (3) If it wasn't obvious, I have all of the current expansions. Only ship type I have not enabled is the swallowers, because I'm unsure of them.
My strategy works pretty well until the late-game when I hit AI tier 3... and then hell breaks loose when the AI sends forces after forces after forces....
I'm dying to trigger a showdown and use the blade to help me kill the motherships that spawn (and while they're distracted, use the nomad beacon to turn one of their homes to pulp after I get the achievement), an use the 'invincible' spire fleet of mine to eliminate the remaining forces. (I wanna get that 120 planet control achievement badly....)
For my defensive, I use lots of turret spam at the wormhole/military base under forcefields (Millitary base gives 100% attack under forcefields according to in-game text), and area mines using the line placed between the wormhole and my station, using black hole machines to protect from infiltrators.
I position my military ship construction hub at an even distance between all of my bottlenecks (Which normally end up being two) for easy deployment. My special forces hub (Golem, spire, and other supership parking) is always one hop from it, and my scouting prduction facilities are also one hop out.
I have played about 150 hours, and only won once (2 lvl 5 coward/chivalric AI using the alternate Spire victory.) and have played multiple games with different settings. Most end up with me in a deadlock unable to go far without getting killed, or I overextend myself trying to claim all of the core shield generators or showdown devices and die from the AI getting so pissed off they send hell itself to floor me.
I'm hoping to learn some general tips, not to become hardcore, but just so I can avoid my doom and actually experience everything I can in the game ^^; Thank you for taking the time to read this