I didn't write this. Credit goes to Lord Admiral Follett from the main forum:
Section 1 Agression:
To put it simply this is the most important part of the game. Without taking resources from somebody else, you will only climb up the ranks VERY slowly. The way the current ranking system works you need to "run just to stay in your place" to use an obligatory Alice reference. This section is dedicated to combat of the offensive type.
Commandments of SC Combat:
1: Though shall have no other simulators before
www.battlecalc.com 2: Though shalt remember rapid fire.
3: Though shalt use fodder.
4: Though shalt clarify that all attacks are "just business."
5: Though shalt steal resources.
6: Remember thy Dionysus class and keep it holy.
7: Though shalt raise thy espionage level so that thou's neighbors cannot bear false witness against thee.
8: Though shalt covet thy neighbors fleets first, then his resources, while being wary of thy defenses that are thy neighbors.
9: Thou shalt apply the cost benefit principal when it comes to hydrogen.
10: Thou shalt use group attacks to hit large targets.
THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE!
Faster is always better, don't give them much time to react. This is why Atlas classes are useful.
Section 2: Building an Efficient fleet
My current ratio
Core Fleet:
100 Artemis
10 Apollo
15 Athena
4 Hades
5.5 Prometheus
25 Hercules
4 Poseidons
2 Ares
15 Dionysus
I recommend you build in this ratio as soon as you are capable of doing so. I recommend that you skip the Hades class and move directly to the Prometheus.
Classes of the Line
Artemis:
The Artemis classes provide light anti defensive fodder while being a slowly dying shield against attack. An Artemis is generally worth about 1.5 missiles and about .75 lasers when it comes to attack in purely aggressive terms. Watch out for Poseidons though...they eat these for breakfast.
Athena:
The Athena exists to provide concentrated doses of firepower to large target. Anything that get hit by an Athena's weapons batteries will have problems. They can reliably cripple most ships in one shot. They are very cost efficient, thus they exist to provide damage output.
Prometheus:
Like the Athena, only more so. Anything that gets hit by a Prometheus WILL die. Additionally, it has gigantic shield generators and an incredible hull. They are VERY hard to kill. However, they're expensive to build and VERY expensive to operate. It is truly the Hummer of SC, very powerful, but difficult to bring to battle due to the hydro cost.
Hercules:
The mighty Herc is the most cost efficient transport, and although its a little slow it's great for hauling cargo around. It has a decent amount of hull, and won't ALWAYS die whenever its hit. Therefore it can be used as midweight fodder in a crisis and only the Hades has rapid fire against it.
Dionysus:
Its a mobile bank and it lets you recycle...don't send them along for combat...they're much to slow. 'Nough said.
Second Rate Classes
Hades
Hades exist for those times when hydrogen efficiency is a top priority or when your opponent spams Athenas or Poseidons. It is very expensive due to its hydro AND crystal cost. However it can come in handy.
Apollo:
The best firepower per resource expended...but not enough to actually kill any of the heavier defenses...it can be useful as a "light bomber" to clear out large amounts of fodder. I keep about 150 of these guys around for this reason.
Ares:
A specialty ship. Good defense, but very expensive. Use it against ground base defenses, otherwise its just an exceptionally fuel inefficient Athena.
Atlas:
Your probably gonna have a bunch of them sitting around from early game. Just use them for rapid transport.
Probe: These can actually be VERY useful for "flash transports" to send small amounts of resources to distant people very very fast. They're also useful in combat as fodder against defenses since no defense can rapid fire against them. Otherwise, stick to espionage.
Everything else shouldn't be in combat...ever.
Section 3: It's your economy stupid...
Why did the allies win the Second World War? Someone with no understanding of the conflict will say it was our technology, the atom bomb, radar, and the aircraft carrier. Someone with some understanding will say that it was our numbers, or our generalship. Somebody who truly "gets it" will tell you that it was the Allied manufacturing capacity that won the war. The allies had the resources of the ENTIRE world to work with, while the access had a very small amount of territory. Since the allies could manufacture more bullets, bandages, and beans than Adolf, they won.
The Axis ran rampant in the beginning of the war until the Allies kicked their economies into gear and started producing. Its the same thing in starfleet.
The first thing you need to do is fill out all your planet slots. This is vital, since each level of mine is slightly more inefficient in terms of cost than the one before it. Get 6 planets in your local group, then put a few in other galaxies near the rest of the alliance. You now have some capacity.
To put it simply any fleet that you build will eventually be destroyed. Somebody bigger WILL come along and you'll forget to fleetsave. When your fleet dies, your buildings and technologies will remain. They are truly your biggest investment.
Therefore, we need to talk about how to make that investment.
Temperature: When you are establishing colonies pick one with a good temp. Colonies that are closer to the sun, 1s,2,3,4s etc. will enable you to use the solar satellite..which is cheaper and more field efficient than solar power plants. Distant worlds will generate slightly more hydro. All planets fall into one of the below mentioned categories.
Hiveworlds
This world is the world in which you built everything on before you learned the concept of field discipline. It probably has factory on it and a bunch of nuclear reactors. It probably has your best shipyard on it, lab, and a foundry if you've got one. It should have your best defensive grid.
Agriworlds
These worlds have high mining levels and exist to send resources to the Hiveworlds for processing.
Civilized Worlds
These worlds are "standalone" worlds in other galaxies. They rely on themselves for resources.
Fortress Worlds
These worlds are heavily fortified fleetbases in other galaxies so that you can raid people with impunity then return to your homeworld with the goods.
Your empire should work by having your Agriworlds ship stuff to your Hiveworlds, which can process it faster.
Shipyard:
Level limit 12:
The shipyard speeds up production and allows for you to make choices about what you want to build. Your highest shipyard should be on your homeworld. All other planets should have just enough of one so that they can manufacture hercs which are then deployed with their cargo's to your hiveworld to serve as fodder in upcoming assults.
Foundries:
Level limit 2
You're not gonna need it after that.
The best building ever...You are going to be VERY vulnerable as it builds and it takes a highly upgraded capital to build one. It however slashs your production time. My capital world can build an Athena in 25 minutes...in fact it builds so fast that it frequently outstrips the resources that come in. The foundry is expensive...but its sooo worth it.
Mines:
Ship droids in from your factory planet with the charon before you go to sleep. Every spot on the planet should be filled with a droid or human. The small bonus really does add up over time. You should cap your mines at about level 24, after that its just better to invest in other things.
Missle Silos:
I'm not a big fan of the IPBM. It gives ginormous alliances too much of an advantage. Get just it to level 4 and build 30 APMs and 5 IPMs...that will make most people think twice.
Labs:
ARCNet Works...build labs on your high field planets and get that research done. Weapon tech is by far the most important of the battletechs. AI is the most important of the support techs, and also the hardest to raise (have you ever tried to collect 630k hydro?) Espionage tech is also important.
Section 4: The Wealth of Starfleets
Resources...that classic bane of your existence. To the best of my knowledge of this game, there are four primary ways of making money. You can of course mix these
1: The Adam Smith Method
"The value of the most precious resource regulates the value of the whole world."
The central tenet of this philosophy is that the goal of this game is to amass resources, primarily hydrogen. The "free market" that is this game functions on the principal that the individual with the most resources wins. This method embraces conflict, but only if it is profitable. Therefore, you should make it unprofitable for a potential enemy to raid you. Keep resources "secure" by keeping them on the move or constructing something. Build some defenses to protect your overnight generation. Don't tick off anyone who can defend themselves from you. Target inactive and people who are in small alliances that are ranked lower than you. Engage in trades when necessary, but try to make a profit. Allow people who are better at generating hydro (those with cold planets) to sell hydro to you in exchange for ore and crystal which you are better at making due to solar satellite. This philosophy is promoted by alliances like the Marquis and Time Wasters and is recommended for new players of the Imperial Guard since it avoids ticking off anyone of consequence. Essentially, you mix both passive generation with low level gathering.
2: The Neville Chamberlain Method.
"Peace for our time"
Either hide in diplo, or build massive defenses. Do not build a fleet, this reduces your chances of being targeted. Simply transport your mine revenue to the world that needs the next mine. Occasionally, you might need to "appease" an opponent through trade concessions or outright bribery. People who follow this method, most of whom belong to New Hope, Firefly, or Star Wars tend to think EVERYONE MUST follow this method. They don't like being attacked and will generate messages whenever you do attack them....which makes you attack them more. Sorry New Hope, Firefly, and Star Wars...that has been my experience with you.
3: The David Lloyd George/George Patton Approach
"Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning."
Essentially, this approach states that fleets have an inherent value and should always be moving somewhere. Any resource or ship left exposed will eventually be destroyed by a more powerful fleet. By taking them now, you save them the greater loss that they will take later. Therefore, it is justified to take anything since they left it there for YOU!
In fact, you are actually beautifying the galaxy by removing all those unsightly debris. However, it is still a good idea to build some diplomatic goodwill with nearby players so that you'll have some calvary to come riding to the rescue. After all...its a wargame and the calvary does come on occasion. Raiding is the best way to generate revenue...and doing so will ensure your Star Nation's future and its rapid rise in the ranks. This method is practiced by me personally, by most of the Imperial Guard command staff and alliances such as Empire.
The Georgi Zhukov Method
This is somewhat of a balance between the Chamberlain and Patton methods wherein you identify your greatest threat and begin amassing a fleet 2 to 3 times more powerful than their largest concentration of ships and planetary defenses using a combination of resource saving and brief bouts in diplomat mode.
This allows you to harness the power of your "Agro" worlds to funnel resources securely to your "Hive" and "Fortress" worlds to conduct high level research and build masses of larger ships in reletive safety.
You will need to have all your colonies in the same system and most close to your "Hive" world, when not in diplomat mode your smaller colonies will push their mines as high as possible while producing a steady stream of low level fighters and probes to send back to your main fleet assembly point. Additionally you'll have to send out probes continually to keep your information fresh and up to date.
This method requires quite a bit of time invested into the game and isn't for the casual player, but it is more effective for the active player by using focused raids to not only generate resources but also take out key competitors that could prevent you from dominating your section of the galaxy.
Bonus points if you understand the method names...and if you get why they inply.
For more information, please go to
http://tinyurl.com/ImpGuard-tacticaImp
COLA CHAT 2 
Subject: Tatical Thinking Guide 
Fri Jan 15, 2010 3:15 am