Questions concerning the Nomads

[Regularity]

So after getting the latest AI War expansion and deciding to jump back into the game after a year, I've begun my first new campaign. However, I'm not completely clear on how the Nomad mechanics are supposed to work, and both trying google and the wiki have yielded little in the way of clarification. So I'm turning to posting my questions directly, in hopes a veteran could help me out...

1) The AI can control the Nomad gates, that seems clear. But is there any way to wrest control of the wormholes once you conquer the system? The FAQ mentions the player can "influence" the wormhole system, but I'm not sure if that actually means control wormhole movement or just wrecking the network with the beacon.

2) Can someone explain how the beacon works? The description in the journal entry is a bit unclear. From what I gather, using it will destroy the nomad system from which it was deployed, and the target system... and any other systems that can only be reached by traveling through the target system. Is that correct?

3) Does using the beacon destroy only the nomad system from which it was deployed, or ALL nomad systems? (And does every nomad system have its own beacon, or can you only destroy one whilst the enemy gets free reign with the others?)

4) It mentions if using the beacon to sever the AI home system from yours completely, there is a backlash that will severely harm both the AI and yourself. Could anyone explain what exactly happens?

In advance, thanks for taking the time to read through all this in answering my questions.

[Toranth]

When the player captures and repairs the Nomad Beacon (located on Nomad 1 only), it becomes a mobile unit.  As long as the Beacon sits on a Nomad system (any Nomad system), there is no difference from normal play - the Nomads still wander randomly.

When the Beacon moves onto any non-Nomad world, however, things change.  All the Nomad systems start to converge on the system that contains the Beacon.  If the Beacon moves from system to system, the Nomads will retarget to follow.  If the Beacon moves back onto a Nomad, the Nomads stop following and resume normal random movement.

The AI will spawn exowaves to target the Beacon whenever it is on a non-Nomad system.  These exowaves get much larger when the Beacon is on an AI homeworld (understandable).

If a Nomad system gets close enough (on the Galaxy map) to the system that contains the Beacon, it detonates.  This completely destroys that Nomad (the close one) as well as the target system.  And by destroys, I mean, the systems do not exist any more.  A little bit of stellar debris is left instead.  No other Nomads are harmed in the making of this debris.

If eliminating the target system would cut off additional systems, so there would be no wormhole path to reach them, then those cut-off systems are also destroyed.
If those cut-off systems that would be destroyed also include an AI homeworld, Bad Things (tm) happen instead.  I know you're asking, but it's more fun to find out yourself.  Just don't expect to win after seeing it.

[Draco18s]

By the way, I think "hitting the homeworld with a nomad" is exempt from Bad Stuff.  It's if the cascade would cause its removal.

[Toranth]

By the way, I think "hitting the homeworld with a nomad" is exempt from Bad Stuff.  It's if the cascade would cause its removal.

Oh, yes, correct.  Bad phrasing on my part.

Popping the AI Homeworld directly is encouraged. 
Trying to sneak around the AI Homeworld's extra defenses by cutting off an entire group of systems is not.

[Qatu]

 I've never done this cutting off AI Homeworlds with nomadsplosions, this thread is making me curious to try it. I guess I should go with a snake map and try to cut off both at once for maximum sepuku?

[Regularity]

Thanks for the advice, guys. Sorry for the slow response, I was playing a long campaign in person before coming back just in case I had any more questions. I did find one, however...

What determines the ETA on system destruction, is it some sort of dice roll? Taking a beacon out into one of the Nomad system's exit wormholes seems to cause system destruction, but not without WILD variation in ETA. I've had anywhere from less than a minute, to more than ten before a system gets whacked. So, what determines how long it takes?

One other thing, if I'm on a map which has no major branches as viable targets (meaning I can really only knock out small 1 or 2 system dead-ends), should I just deploy the beacon where-ever just so the Nomad stops being a threat to my planned defenses? I don't know whether its worth the risk or not. If I clear the system of AI, but don't fully capture it, is the AI smart enough to move a large garrison fleet into it when its connected to AI system, and then wait for it to re-align to mine before unloading the garrison?

[Toranth]

What determines the ETA on system destruction, is it some sort of dice roll? Taking a beacon out into one of the Nomad system's exit wormholes seems to cause system destruction, but not without WILD variation in ETA. I've had anywhere from less than a minute, to more than ten before a system gets whacked. So, what determines how long it takes?

When the Beacon is deployed to a non-Nomad system, all Nomads move towards that system at a constant rate.  It's kind of hard to describe - just watch the Galaxy map, and you'll see it happen.  The detonation occurs whenever a Nomad system gets close enough (which roughly means, both system's star icons overlap).
If you are using an alternate view of the Galaxy Map, where the system locations are different than the default map, things get... weird.  I suggest switching back to the default map when using Nomads.

One other thing, if I'm on a map which has no major branches as viable targets (meaning I can really only knock out small 1 or 2 system dead-ends), should I just deploy the beacon where-ever just so the Nomad stops being a threat to my planned defenses?

I wouldn't recommend using the Beacon to destroy anything but an AI Homeworld, or other equally essential target.  AIP costs for blowing up that much stuff is very painful, and the time and effort involved in getting the Beacon activated, located, etc, is better spent elsewhere if you aren't using it against something really important.
Also, only the one Nomad that first arrives at the Beacon goes BOOM.  If you have more than one Nomad system in the game, all others will resume their normal wandering after the Beacon is destroyed.

I don't know whether its worth the risk or not. If I clear the system of AI, but don't fully capture it, is the AI smart enough to move a large garrison fleet into it when its connected to AI system, and then wait for it to re-align to mine before unloading the garrison?

If you clear a system of all Guardposts but not the AI Command Station (this is usually referred to as "neutering") then the system will slowly reinforce itself, potentially building up a bunch of AI ships if it remains on alert for an extended time.  Either a beachhead of turrets or regular sweeps of your fleet is recommended to keep a system like this clear.
If you destroy the AI Command Station, but do not yourself capture the system, the AI will no longer reinforce that system.  AI ships will route through it on their way to somewhere else, but they will not deliberately garrison or defend it.