I'm using a slightly different strategy.
I build a free Akkan Battlecruiser, and then as soon as I can, I build a Kol.
I then send both out to the nearest planets and colonise them.
I dont waste time with small ships. On the more heavily defended pirate planets, 2 battleships without upgrades will prevail, even if both lose their shields and maybe even some hull. (Thats not a problem, they will repair themselves).
If the world has more than 6 defenders or more than 2 Heavy Cruisers, jump to the next planet. You dont need to have all your planets linked, as long as its only pirates on them and your not sending single ships there. When you want to add to your 'strike fleet', you build the factories wherever your fleet is, destroy the old ones and replace them with refineries. I try to add 5 Heavy Cruisers and 5 light carriers to the fleet as soon as I can research and build them. This gives you something that can take on anything except a larger enemy fleet. Add 5 LRM's and 5 Flak frigates, and your a balanced fleet.
The important thing early on, is to get 4-6 planets or asteroids colonised, so you can get 6 of each research bases built, and full populations. You build only what you need, resources and research.
Dont go too far away, do the close planets and then consolidate, research and then build a fleet that can take pirates easily and defend against an early enemy.
If your encountering enemy early on, your selecting the wrong senarios. You want a game with more space, no extra stars, and a few enemies set a distance away from each other. Until you have learned how to utilize what you have got, dont do senarios with early major conflicts in them. Go for big numbers of planets and few enemies, with few phase lines and few colonised pirate planets, and give yourself room to expand without hitting an agressive enemy. Once you are confident in the gameplay, then go for more agressive smaller games.
I prefer to hold off enemy contact as long as possible. This allows me to do as much research as possible first, giving my ships a tactical edge in firepower and range, and giving me resources stored in which to react to anything unexpected happening.
So I dont do any fortifying of early colonies, I just build them for research. Once I have 7 of each research base, I then start putting in refineries and trade ports on new colonies. These boost resources, which then allow you to do your research quicker. The faster you complete the research, the better your tactical position is, and you can then think strategically for a while as you expand and you build fleets.
If you have extra slots on any planet, put in trade ports and refineries. The more you have, the more income and resources they make for you. Trade ports need 2 adjacent planets with trade ports to work, but refineries do not. So choose according to what is around each planet. But if you have 4 spare slots, build 2 trade and 2 refineries if you can. If you need cash, build 4 trade. If you need resources, build 4 refineries.
edit : Dont forget your black market. DOnt put off doing something becasue you out of 1 thing. Use your black market to convert one thing into another and keep doing research and building as fast as you can.
Also, dont forget to fully research the colony as fast as possible. If the colony is not fully researched, your income goes down for as long as its not fully researched. Go for maximum population and planet health asap.
