i never tried the Drath, probably did not know even know they have such bonuses until someone mentioned it like yourself. 

Your super warships cost 100BC?

The Drath may be the easiest to win with on Suicidal (personally I think they're second), but that does not necessarily make them the strongest (though they may be).  The Torian, for instance, can rapidly gain a large income through sheer population growth.  The AI is inacapable of stopping a well executed Korath spore rush in most circumstances.  The Iconians are terribly powerful early game with their unique planetary structures - all you've got to do is balance your economy, then you have a window where you are unstoppable.  The Terrans IMHO are the easiest to win with since their diplomacy bonus is so huge they can play other empires like puppets.  The Altarians have a fantastic tech tree and research faster than anyone in the game.  If you've only played as the Drath, I'd suggest trying some of the other races.  It may be difficult until you learn the to handle the slower economic progression, but you might find the advantages of the other races quite fun to use once you've got more experience with them.

Depending on how much you're rounding down there-fairly easily.

Huge hull, maxed miniaturization, my hyperion shrinker built, no other races' shrinkers taken, 322 space.  320 cost for the huge hull, 23 * 160 cost for the nightmare torpedoes.  Total cost: 4,000BC.  (Total rush buy cost: 55,002BC)

And if I wanted to for some reason fill up a ship with hp modules (integrity grid or organic hull plating, your choice) at 77 * 60, plus 320 for the hull, plus 160 for the single nightmare torpedo that will now fit, I'd be up to 5,100BC.  (Total rush buy cost: 71,856BC.)  While this is obviously non-optimal, it does show how hp modules can fairly drastically increase the cost of a ship.

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Also, Willy, we're talking build cost, not rush buy cost. 

JustinSane4 thanks thats what I was looking for.  Starting a game with the altarians and going to see how that goes.  

...

lol, oh how the forums have been lacking in Piz's humor.  Hmmm, though being the Terrans and making some "Firebat"-class small hulls does sound fun.

Hey lethstang - I think you'll enjoy playing with the Altarians quite a bit considering that they have almost the exact same Tech tree as the Drath, apart from War Profiteering. The difference is that the Altarians, if played correctly, have the potential to absolutely crush the AI in the Research department.

However, like everyone else said - make sure you play a few games with each race to get the feel for their Tech tree and their unique abilities. Even if you don't think you'll play with them more then other races, you'll still find it helpful to know how to win with them. In certain cases, it'll be easier to anticipate what the AI is going to do at a certain point in the game. Enjoy the gaming!

~ Cypher ~

@galacticdoom - You're definitely right. The Altarians have wicked PQ boosters. However, the Drath also get the Biosphere Modulator as well. I'm not sure if they get the Paradise Worlds tech, though. You can only get that tech once you align Good with the Altarians. I think it raises the PQ of every world you have by +10%. I know that the highest class that I've ever gotten was a PQ 40 world - needless to say that is ridiculously high.

~ Cypher ~

I went back and looked, and it appears I overstated the PQ's of most of my planets up there, i do have 1 in my current game that was over 40, but most are 15-20, with a lesser percentage over 20. Like Wisp became bigger than Altaria (21 to 19), since it seems ocean squares can never be usuable, so Altaria at 19 PQ must be the highest it can go.