[jimbob]

As for intel, if things get bad, the homeworld can be abandoned to break contact with the other races and instantly eliminate intel interactions.

Of course if you've had a long history of working as a privateer for another race, you may be able to convince them to "hold onto" your planet for a period of time. Getting it back from them may prove a bit difficult, but this may be a better move than full abandonment!

I'd suggest large numbers of small ships with ship boarding capacity. Swarm tactics with cheap, fast, replaceable (read: small) ships is far more effective in most cases. This runs contrary to most games where the larger hulls give a weapons mount advantage. Boarding parties have no mounts and enjoy a "100% to hit bonus" once shields are down, so why use mounts?