I picked up this game last week after reading a review and am very glad that I did. I just finished my first game and wow! I went through the tutorials and then set up a game along the lines of the small strategy guide.
Talk about not having a clue what was going on, but still having fun. I somehow managed to pull off an influence victory, but I think I got lucky. I ended up spending a lot of time building influence starbases and constantly sending constructors to them to keep upgrading. I also got into a big fight near the end so I got to experience some combat as well. I had a few dreadnoughts that I was using to smash through stuff and also I invaded a few planets as well.
Anyway, I guess I better start a new game and see if I can figure out some more stuff. Just wanted to say hello and am looking forward to more great games and posts from this forum.