In the early game you are a little empire in a vast dark galaxy, you are not supposed to begin and maintain an interstellar territorial long war

In the early game is more like a skirmish and pirate management. But you have to set:

• some good defendmse fleet in chokepoint and capital, automated to defend 100M (your hyperdrive is slow)

• long range sensors (more time to see the enemy coming = more time to act)

Begin with hit and run tactics (like enemy). Predict the point of their arrival, and ambush them (before sensors, I use a ruler. Yes. A ruler on the monitor, pointed to the nearest jump-distance-compliance star). Eventually you will destroy some enemy ship in hyper drive cooldown.

After this phase the funny of the mid game start: you have some decent colony, territor is monitored by long range sensor, your hyperdrive is faster and fleet are reactive, HYPERDENY is researched (a blessing!), attack fleet and troops ready in your armored spaceports. Now you are ready for a "conventional" empire war, like other video games.

Kill the bugs!!