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Now, as for your challenge. I'm not going to actually start the game, but looking at the starting positions available it boils down to 3 planets for me.
Defensively, the biggest challenge is going to be the exo-waves from Golem and Spirecraft hard so I want a defensive buffer around my homeworld. That means capturing all systems adjacent to my homeworld. To keep AIP down, that means a homeworld with only 2 wormholes.
So, that's Tiro (Electric Shuttle), Sizingmond (Cutlass), Cumifku (Yng Tiger) I can pick from.
Those three all have roughly the same strategic positioning, in terms of number of hops to get somewhere, so it comes down to which ship you like best.
For me, that would be the Tiger, so Cumifku would be my starting homeworld.
You'll note that for me personally, warpoint connections and layout is more important then ship type. It is why I've taken to blindly hitting "Generator Map" and then "Start Game" without even looking at the map or ships available so I get surprised by what I have to deal with.
Anyways, you have your games underway, let us know how they go.
D.