resources, private sector and trade problems and doubts.

[Bingeling]

ORIGINAL: CyclopsSlayer

While that Port for repair is indeed useful. Having a Yard cluster in every system will confuse the hell out of the Private Freighters AI control.
I will always have a port over my Home World as both Construction and Research Hub. Every 25-50 additional worlds I will add a permanent Port at a large Max population world. I will also often build a Construction Yard on the active War Fronts as I move the front 3+ Sectors away I retire the existing if it is beyond the number I keep, and I rebuild a new base near the current front.

The repair port can of course be scrapped when no longer needed, like your "front line yard". The pirate war is eventually won.

I have rarely felt any real resource problems (though new spaceports take a while). This with a spaceport at every colony. They appear to have started auto upgrading, though, and medium-large at every colony may be worse. I play rather slow games, with quite a lot of peacetime, which probably reduces the resources used in general. I also don't order 10 cruisers at any random colony with a medium space port...

[Spidey]

Binge, how large are your stockpiles on each colony? Because that used to be my main problem. Every now and again, I needed to retrofit or construct large numbers of ships and then I just didn't have the resources available to get it done, since they were scattered all over the place.

[Bingeling]

Not sure, but I tend to have a few trusted spaceports on massive colonies, and do major construction or retrofit on these. After a while you get a feel for where you can order a full fleet at one spaceport and get it built. Those are the ones you want to retrofit large fleets as well.

From my experience... You often got a main cluster of large and "old" colonies. Even with spaceports everywhere, large spaceports in this cluster are usually well stocked. Beware of any spaceport in the "outskirts" of the empire, and any fresh one.

On retrofit, I will often rotate fleets. Retrofit the ones sitting at or near "home". Then send them to the outskirts to replace the fleets there, which can move home to retrofit and become new "home" fleets.

Keep in mind that you can always decide where a fleet will do its retrofit (and refueling). I pay attention to where fleets wants to go to refuel or retrofit, and intervene if I don't agree with the choice.

[elanaagain]

Back to building a spaceport at a newly colonized world: I redesign the small spaceports and create a bare bones base with only the minimum components required. This lets it get built faster and gets the population growth bonus from the med bay and rec bays applied sooner than any other method. Then I design upgraded designs that favor whatever I'm hoping to specialize at that world. Another advantage of this is you can put the components in order of construction. That means you can put power generation first, and shields, (or whatever you choose) to be built first and they go on line even before the base is complete.

[CyclopsSlayer]

ORIGINAL: elanaagain

Back to building a spaceport at a newly colonized world: I redesign the small spaceports and create a bare bones base with only the minimum components required. This lets it get built faster and gets the population growth bonus from the med bay and rec bays applied sooner than any other method. Then I design upgraded designs that favor whatever I'm hoping to specialize at that world. Another advantage of this is you can put the components in order of construction. That means you can put power generation first, and shields, (or whatever you choose) to be built first and they go on line even before the base is complete.

Exactly. I place Fighter Bays first as they provide a Off/Def weapon system usable almost immediately, while guns and shields won't operate until the base is done.
However, try doing the base at a new colony as a Star Base, as a Spaceport is required to have Yards, and a Base doesn't require them.

I have also been guilty of using a Large Spaceport as a bomb.
Have money in the bank? Have a Pirate Fleet raiding a key colony? Build a LSP which they will immediately destroy, in a huge explosion. If the Pirates are only damaged, immediately order a new base, which will also blow up... Glory in the dead and dying Pirates... [X(]

[elanaagain]

C Slayer.. love the designer 'blowing up raiding pirates' base... lol I give my deviousness crown to you.