[Possum]

That is an INTERESTING idea!

I like the idea of raiding, it's something I do a lot myself.

One of my goals for very early mid-game is to send a couple expeditions on slave raids, to capture populations that breathe different atmospheres than my own people. This enables me to have more un-domed colonies without all the bother of researching 7 levels of Planet Utilization and then waiting 3 years. These are very much raids, as the main goal is just to get in with minimum fighting, grab a small planet, herd the folks into a transport, and then haul *** for home.

I've also used raids for general harassment purposes, but your idea is actually far more appealing then any of these. I like it!

And I think construction in orbit would also have some serious advantages, if only in not having to fly the completed ship up out of the planet's gravity well...