I do like the 'damping factor with more planets' idea though, the more planets you have, the larger the bureaucracy would be, the less surplus you'd have on each planet.
Be careful you don't put players off expanding completely. They might get to a point where they think "why expand?" in which case, that means there's no need for war or colonisation.
I could use some help against this jahroen guy, he's sending 50 cruisers at my home planet. My planetary defenses will take most of them down, but I'm not certain I can kill them all.
Not having any ships out and about right now, I can't do anything, sorry
I think the best thing you can do is stock up resources on your home planet for a couple of turns and then build a big fleet when he gets close. Hopefully your Planetary Defences will destroy enough that your ships can cover the rest.
Slapsticks might be able to send some over, he's only a few day's travel away.
