Yeah I hear ya. I'm not worried about my current shipyard (at least I don't think I should be worried, as I have 4 Orbital Laser Platforms defending it and my Homeworld). But it's my new colony, which is naked out there right now. I went the route of trading and defense, rather than build destroyers. Hope it doesn't bite me in the butt.

I like your idea about outpost ships, but they are definitely expensive and I'm currently replacing all my mini-harvesters with Resource Harvesters. So I'm broke.