I'm currently playing a normal game with a custom race on normal, large galaxy i think. I'm in the driver's seat right now. At first i focusd mostly on researching and building up trade , and grabbing as many planets as possible. I got a nice base galaxy wit that. From there, I was at first intending to be peacful and just trade/research but as things go, that wasnt gonna happen. Well since my military rating was 0 (no combat ships yet at all) the Torians to my east thought it would be a good idea to attack me. Well not.. the were not very powerful militarily. I designed a simple combat ship that was superior to all that they had and started cranking it out. This kept them at bay with ease. At the same time, the Altarians (?) to the south of me had declared war on the Snathi minor race. now the Snathi system has like 4 habitable planets, i own 3 of them and the minor race Snathi had the other one (nice planet). Well i was friendly with the Snathi but the Altarians attack them and win with ease. (altarians had the biggest military). So i decide i cannot let the Altarians have the planet so i must backstab the Snathi to get it myself.
So first i go to the Snathi and give them a great tech trade deal, giving them a ton of cultuural techs (nothing immediately useful in combat) in exchange for pretty much everything they had researched that i didnt (abuot 8 techs or so?) Then two turns later i attack them and take over the planet with the Altarian troopship not far off haha.
So back to the Torians, well, to the north of me the Altarians are fighting with the Korx. Now the Korx only have three or four planets but a vast area of influence. Military wise they aint great, so i decide i must beat the Alterians to the punch and conquer the whole Korx area of influence. So i go to the Torians, give them about 900 bc to get peace (they accepted since i had started pounding their fleets, no planets yet but they were already saying how their attack was a joke etc). I dont like wasting money but it was needed.
So off i go to the north and overcome the Korx pretty quickly since I've built up a couple of useful fleets. By now the relation with Altarians is indicated to become "cool" so i worry that they are going to strike soon. They are still the most powerful military. I design a newer ship that should be adequate to deal with the Altarians and start producing it. Before i am completely finished to the north the Altarians declare war on me because they think i am evil. Altarians are to my south BTW.
I am lucky that i've just been able to build up enough to hold the line before all my troops come from the Korx area which is now completely mine and then i start beating the Altarians everywhere. I took over 4 of their planets leaving only 2 to the south. Additionally, they have some planets farther east but the Torian empire cuts through that, so the Altarians influence is split. Anyway, then the yellow guys (Arceans?) are at war with the Altorian as well (friendly to me) and because i've reduced their fleets to nothing it looks like they may be winning. Well, i gave the Altarians a peace after those 4 planets cause i didnt want to win just quite yet, but now i think i must intervene. I will capture the remaining two planets to the south to eliminate this sphere of the Altarians and leave the seperated part to the east. If i do (and i will when i play again) it means i will own the entire west side of the galaxy, about a third total.
After that i'm not sure what to do. Relations are warm and friendly with everyone but the torians and alterians (neutral and cool respectively). My plan is to trade and research for a while and not interfere in anything. We'll see if it's possible