While laboriously and very carefully replaying my first 30 turns, something occurred to me. I found a strategy that works in 255 system quadrants a dozen games ago, and stuck to it. I call it the blitz strategy. Basically, if you try to have a fleet and resource production at the same time which is sufficient to conquer all the AI, then your score will reach Mega Evil Empire long before you are really ready. So what I hit upon was not building the fleet until I had fully developed facilities on all the colonies the AI would tolerate - generally 39 or so. With 39 huge proper atmosphere you have about 22 x 39 = 860 facilities of which about 475 (200 resource, 225 research, 50 intelligence) can be production so the remaining 385 are x 40 storage. I split it 7 million minerals and 2.5 million each organics and radioactives. Some slots on each world are unused. Generally I exceed the quota in resources and start scrapping to build storage around turn 75-85 as I approach 500k score. By turn 120 I have done all the tech I need and my stockpile is ready, so I start a dreadnought in every yard, etc. See my posting in the strategy thread....

I feel like knocking myself in the head for being so stupid. It just never occured to me - as you approach 500k, running a surplus SCRAP the spaceport on one of your fully developed worlds and continue building facilities on the newer worlds. You can have 385/475 = 80% more production on the blitz turn simply by rebuilding the spaceports! After that you can get another 30% by building the robotoids. You still need some storage as a cushion, but nowhere in the range of millions.

The same applies to bases and ships if you learn the tech before your worlds are developed - mothball and reactivate at the blitz for a huge jump in score. Dominoe surrender may be an unfair strategy, but I like it. Let the least useful empire live while you colonize all planets in the quadrant to boost your racial score....