Good point. Of course, defending against a Novalith is very easy.
Wait, what? Defending against a Novalith was easy? I thought there *WAS* no defense against a Novalith. You can't shoot down or intercept the projectile, and there's no structure anyone can build which specifically counters it. The TEC Planetary Shield only reduces the pain, and that's only available for TEC. There *IS* no defense against the Novalith other than to destroy it, and if you're able to casually blitz and destroy them at whim before they can get off a single shot, you've basically already won. The only thing you *CAN* do against Novaliths is just to recolonize and suck it up, since the Novalith doesn't actually harm your logistical or tactical structures, just the planet. Or is there a trick to this I haven't found?
1) Homeworld based Defeat. Great idea.
This would be a terrible idea, considering how trivially ANY planet can be destroyed, unless homeworlds somehow gained special distinction from the capital and special defensive abilities against being wiped from the galaxy in 2 shots.
It really breaks down and fails on large games with a full load of players. It's pretty stupid to be told to go attack a target that isn't a threat to your ally that is on the other side of the galaxy.
Is this single player? I wasn't aware human players depended on missions for acceptance of terms with each other. In single player, it's nigh-impossible to peacevictory with more tha one other player, since you only get a peace win when you ally with everything and they ally each other. I've tried it: I had peace treaty with both of the other AIs in the game. It didn't end, they were intent on killing each other.