just a little FYI for all those who aren't quite as clueless as me... if you play the TEC, shoot the incredibly slow and rather expensive novalith cannon at a enemy colony but destroy the enemy colony and establish your own colony at that location before the novalith warhead hits, you will take the full damage of the warhead up to and including the destruction of your new colony... did I mention that the warhead travels rather slow?

in the final stages of a huge map game vs AI - have more cash & resources than know what to do with but am just killing time toying with strategies and learning the game when I found out about this little possibility.  good times - had about 8 different upgrades/constructions qued up as well... so much for those resources