When Gal Civ 3 first showcased starbases with initial defenses, I jumped for joy. What a great idea I thought!
However, as time goes by, I've wondered if this is the right approach. Between needing transports for planets and strong fleets to attack starbases...there isn't really anything to attack in the early game. It makes the concept of early aggression nearly pointless.
In Gal Civ 2, you could try to take the early resources...but you had to fortify either with ships or with further attack/defense modules in order to hold them. Early aggression was a valid strategy to control asteroids and resource stations...even if you still could not invade planets.
So I ask the question, would the game be better off if the initial starbase was more vulnerable?