I played this when it first came out and it was the first 4x game I played, it still is probably the best to my mind because it is more than an economy grind and the occasional space battle... If for example you invade opposed planets then you start to alienate others in the surrounding sector. If you attack shipyards and other civilian buildings you get resentment but destroy the enemy's ability to build or mine... You can run sabotage or assassination missions and have agents for decoys which increase the chance of success at the likely cost of agents... Garrisoning planets lets you keep them, but you could have agents incite a violent uprising that doubles the garrison cost and can loose you the world whilst making you loose money and unable to produce ships... All ships have unique roles, even after they should have been supplanted, there is genuinely no useless ship if you use them right... In a nutshell, it is not just about force like empire at war or so many other strategy games.
