I've read the strategy guides given here on how to start the game - max tech, get propulsion techs, spend to get 2 colony ships, then switch to max production and colony spam.
After colony rush with max production I'm far behind all other races in tech and warships (which you need tech for). I do trade with the AI factions for tech but still need to do extensive research. By the time my research is finally halfway decent the game stands at me having more colonies than any other single faction and usually second in tech (behind that blue-skinned race that always is #1). Before I get Planetary Invasion the other factions are declaring war on me, have a ton of ships, and invading my colonies. My ships have superior quality, but they have superior quantity and I end up having a stack of 10 ships blow up my star bases.
I've tried to build multiple star bases - spam military ships. However only Earth has halfway decent production of medium sized warships (2 turns). Even other worlds that have 5 close sponsors and focused on factories can't produce as fast (4-7 turns each). This is probably because Earth has huge population + lots of tiles, and the outer colonies haven't had enough time to build the pop.
I've tried delaying tactics where I produce warships but station them around planets on the border of factions that are giving hostile messages ("You look tasty...") in order to stop invasion forces. That doesn't work because I usually have 3 factions declare war and there are too many planets to defend, and even with the defended planets that have 2 ships falls to a 6 stack and then there is a breach in the planetary line.
Can anyone give any suggestions on how to handle the crush of enemy warships and how to handle the mid-game?
Thanks