I think the AI works out a lot more than I do.

if you are talking about pirates, I think that is expected.

about "normal factions", it depends. is it with cheating AI or not?

No, it's just normal and I turned the pirates off to get to know the game first. I have a capital ship and about 40 frigates. The AI turns up with a bigger fleet, destroys mine and that's the end of the game. I must be doing something wrong that I get beat so easily?

Give us some measures. How long until they attack, and how many planets do you have then and what is your fleet composition?

It is more than possible to have a larger fleet than any of the pirate raids, though they are annoying.

The last couple of games I had 3 planets and a couple of asteroids. My fleet was one capital ship and about 40 frigates organized in two fleets. The opposition arrived with a mixed fleet and didn't give numbers, makes or models. They just destroyed everything.

The question is, once your fleet is destroyed is there any point in going on as there is no way to defend yourself from the opposition? So I just quit as soon as that happens.  I suspect I need to research more carefully, but haven't had time yet before I get my donkey kicked.

Basically yes. Don't let your fleet get killed, retreat if necessary, and build more ships, preferably hard counters (like long range against light frigates). Not a hard thing. And if you still fail, try EASY AI. It's not a shame starting a completely new game on easy difficulty and getting used to the gameplay...

that's what I am doing. Easy Random, to be precise.

Yep, I think that's the answer - do it on easy. Thanks for the replies.

then Normal, then Hard, then Cruel and Vicious,

Just a few quick comments.  First, you mention in your original post that you grab a few planets and develop them and build a fleet as possible.  The balance between planetary development, research and fleet building in the early game is a delicate one, so it is possible that you have been putting too many resources into economic development, planetary upgrades and/or research, and not enough into fleet development. 

The second thing that I will note is that you do not mention planetary defenses.  Even if you don't build starbases right away, a couple of "turrets" are relatively low cost and will give your smaller fleet something to shelter behind when under attack by a larger fleet.  A human player might well ignore them, but the AI will not, and they can soak up a fair amount of damage giving you time to eliminate the AI's supporting ships and shift the balance in the battle.  You can also use repair platforms to create a more robust defensive zone, and if you hold your fleet in that area and the AI comes to you, you can definitely defeat a larger enemy.  You can also build additional defenses in the middle of a battle, which will further distract the AI and give you more time to bring in reinforcements.

Finally, during all of this your expansion should not stop, either.  Grabbing an additional planet or two can lengthen your chain of trade ports and boost your income at a critical juncture.

Hope this helps.  Would be interested to hear more about your experiments/experience.

HLT, thanks for the interest. I have actually tried a lot of what you suggest. I had so many turrets that you could walk from one end of my empire to the other on the top of them! I kept my fleet behind them and it did help for a time. I think, as you suggest, I was trying to do too much at once.

In my next attempt, I built the biggest fleet as fast as I could and stuck it in a chokepoint. That was a good plan until the AI arrived with a bigger fleet. I kept retreating until there was no place left to go and I was defeated. I still had several planets and asteroids, but of course the AI moved from one to the other destroying them faster than I could rebuilt another fleet.

I haven't managed any trade as I am playing 1v1 and the AI is somewhat snitty and so there is no trade or diplomacy. Perhaps I should try with more than just 1v1 and then I wouldn't be focus of so much attention?

I am resting from GOASE for a day or two (sulking is a better word) while I play Unity Of Command and get destroyed by Russians instead of Alien Invaders!

But I will persevere and try and improve......I can't get worse for sure!

I think you are miss understanding what trade does. You don't have to trade with another Empire, just building trade ports on your planets is enough. There is a trade agreement you can sign with other Empires but that is not needed.

If you've never built a trade port before that is definitely a big problem you need to correct. 

Unless you really know what you are doing (I guess it's not the OP case ).

Trade is not entirely necessary if you have a relatively big empire, and if you can put some pressure on your opponent you don't even need to build trade ports to have superiority on the map.

But for new players it is highly recommended to have a long trade chain (adjacent planets having trade ports) and many trade ports, as this will give you economical advantage over AI below hard, and hard and above it will decrease the advantage of the AI (as it gets more resources, thus harder to defeat).

But don't make the mistake many players do, building a large trade network before building an actual fleet, and this way losing the game just when it started (even 1-2 trade ports can lose you the game if your opponent rushes you). But if you feel your fleet is just enough to secure borders and you have some money to spend, trade is an excellent choice, but always monitor your opponent, and build more ships if you feel necessary.