Hello all, I'm new to the game and would like some general advice on playing the campaign.

I'd prefer to play through the campaign before playing sandbox games, I figured this would be easier, but I'm having a hard time of it.

I've started the campaign over a number of times and keep getting similar results = Enemy attacks me with a much stronger military.

Some basic starter advice would be helpful,

Such as...

Should I take the middle planets right away or let my allied AI buddy do it?

Can I win the first mission by influence or only by military strength?

I seem to always have the best economy, but the weakest military, and eventually fall behind on all other categories even though I control more planets. Getting frustrated , I appreciate any help given.

-Chris-

PS. If the enemy AI doesn't attack me on his own he just builds ships and waits in his corner of space until I approach him, one game I played all day long just researching, decided to attack him finally out of boredom and found out he was 4 tech levels stronger than me.