I confirm - no cheating. Just a growth strategy that works. I posted on the forums about my strategy.

http://www.zarksoft.com/cms/showthre...of-the-Eclipse

The only addition to that post...if you run into an opponent that you need to fight (expanding into the opponent's turf), turn your offensive ships into orbitals to claim those planets in a way that makes it harder for the opponent to reclaim. If you take a planet and move on without leaving it defended, you're likely going to lose it.