As we have all known since they arrived, there is really zero reason to build a Military Starbase. They are weak sauce. Their projection of power needs a serious boost. They need to say.."If you attack us near here, you will be hurt"
What can we do to make building a Military Starbase desirable? Ideally you should only have ONE per sector but I have seen in GC II the Drengin build 4 or 5 near their home planets. While this would be nice, in practice the bonuses did not appear to stack.
Also, getting a 'Military' Starbase effective is a HUGE expense and even a modest fleet will destroy it easy. This precludes me ever bothering to build one. When you put in that 2nd constructor and 'create' a military starbase there should be an immediate return which emanates POWER. Also they should at the very least rape the hell out of any one elses early fleets should they attempt to attack it. I know we have 'influence shown on our maps which shows are immediate area of influence. What would be (in my opinion) good but probably overpowered is if Military bases had a 'Power assist sphere that was double or larger than the current 'influence' or regular starbases. This 'area' is NOT influence and affects NOTHING except the owners ships in combat. Some passive bonuses would be helpful, like greater visibility to said ships or a 15% increase to defenses while in this area.
Just tossing ideas here.