first, thanks for all the help so far.. I have another question though.. How do planet shields work? I have noticed that it took me 2000 shields to put 200 on my planet. Are those shields better now that they are on the planet? or are then still gonna die 1 for 1 when I get attacked??

What is a good number to put on the planets? Are they even worth it, as the game we are playing does not have photon's active..

It seems that fighters are much cheaper...

Thanks again!

Well, for starters, 200 planetary shields (2000 ship shields as you have noted) are needed to stop a photon for anyone on that particular planet That, in itself, is reason to put SOME shields on a planet.

The following taken from http://www2.cajun.net/~hugh/tradewar.html

"Level 5 Citadel: Planetary Shields. These shields will prevent photon torpedos from disabling your quasar cannons. Planetary Shields are actually the same as ship shields, and you must buy them and dump them in the citadel. An invader must destroy all the shields before he can even SEE how many fighters are on the planet, which he will have to destroy next! Planetary shields defend at 22.5:1 odds divided by the attacking ship's combat odds. For example, an ISS needs about 15,000 fighters to destroy 1,000 planetary shields."

I can't recall for sure, but I thought planetary shields were 20:1. I'd have to test again, but same theory as above. Planetary shields are usually (I'm sure there are situations they are not) worth while.