Hey everyone, I'm fairly new to this board and fairly new to Space Empires.  But I love the game and am using up all my spare time playing.  I'm not new to the genre.  I've played a bunch of turn based strategy games in the past.  I'm still waiting for them to release Masters of Magic 2  

 .  Now onto the questions.
1.  Is it just me, or do these games take a very, very long time.  I realize I am playing in a huge galaxy with about 15 AI opponents, but it has already taken about 2000 turns and I only have about 1/8 of the galaxy taken over.  Am I just playing very slow, or is this game just a long one to complete in all out wars?
2.  With research, when is it a good time to update your ships with the new technology you have discovered?  I find myself never upgrading my ships until I have reached a new size, and once I got to the maximum size I have not upgraded yet.  I keep finding myself waiting until I research that weapon up one more level, or get better engines.  When is the best time to upgrade?  I don't want to wait until I have the whole research tree completed.
3.  How important are satellites and mine fields?  I have created one satellite with a lot of weapons, but I find myself just destroying my enemies with my own fleet and that satellites are not really necessary.
4.  What is the best way to keep large fleets full of supplies?  I have a transport ship designed with a lot of supply components, but my fleets still seem to run out fairly quickly.
5.  How many research points and how many intelligence points should I have coming in each turn?  I have about 200,000 research points coming in each turn at this point and my technology is progressing quite nicely.  Intelligence I have neglected and only have about 20,000 coming in each turn.  What is a good point to be at with 1/8 of a huge galaxy conquered.
That is all for now.  Thanks to anyone who takes the time to answer these.
Nate Reiter