Questions about minor races

No u can not flip a minor.

No u can not spy on a minor.

Easy.

No u can not spy on a minor.

seems like something that should be fixed in 1.4 then

or at least remove the prompt telling me to invest money in espionage if i can't

Minor Race Strat Guide
If you are GOOD, trade with them, give them techs, protect them from bully races.
If Neutral, trade with them and "spy" on them using the info from the diplo and planets screens, plus clicking on their ships to check out weapons/defenses.
If EVIL, invade them early and often (they have good PQ worlds) and seize all their resource starbases (they are good at grabbing them early game).

Is it possible now to break an alliance with minors or not yet?

No, one cannot break an alliance with Minor Races.

i did, but that tok a long time, you need to demand much money(or planets) and tecnology. just demand some stuff they wont give you!

I think the best strat for dealing with Minors is, let them be- Trade with them regardless of alignment... and protect them- Sell techs to them to keep them strong. I find that it makes a good, uninterupted cash flow. No more loosing cash when majors declare war on you- Except for the trade they did with you. Also for some reason at the higher levels, I seem to make about 1.5-2x the money of the same length trade route with a minor, then a major- Anybody know why?

I think the best strat for dealing with Minors is, let them be- Trade with them regardless of alignment... and protect them- Sell techs to them to keep them strong. I find that it makes a good, uninterupted cash flow. No more loosing cash when majors declare war on you- Except for the trade they did with you. Also for some reason at the higher levels, I seem to make about 1.5-2x the money of the same length trade route with a minor, then a major- Anybody know why?

... My experience with minors showed them to possess all technology. I have no idea why this was true, but it was. It was during a game with 1.2 - I actually ended up upgrading to 1.3 during it and after that things got weird.

Those 15 PQ planets are just too tempting to pass up, I try and take them out early, before any other race can go after them or becomes friends with them.

Those 15 PQ planets are just too tempting to pass up, I try and take them out early, before any other race can go after them or becomes friends with them.

yeah i usually mooch off their technology (without giving them any military techs), then once the initial land grab is done they're my first targets... especially since it seems like they mostly appear around my territory, does anyone know why this is? is it because i'm colonizing the quickest so the AI tries to slow me down by putting them in my way?

The location of the minor races planets is random, like those of the AI races. All the locations are placed at the start of the game.

yeah i usually mooch off their technology (without giving them any military techs), then once the initial land grab is done they're my first targets... especially since it seems like they mostly appear around my territory, does anyone know why this is? is it because i'm colonizing the quickest so the AI tries to slow me down by putting them in my way?

If you are expanding the most rapidly you will have larger borders than everyone else and thus and more likely to run into them first. Cause and effect see?

Ooh I love minor civs. Only problem is, they are often too tempting invasion targets. If you let them be, they'll always have good technology, so they make good trading partners for it. Also, freighters seem to give more income for trade routes with minors, plus you are not going to lose them if you go to war with majors, so it seems like a good idea to mainly trade with minors.

But admittedly, if they start somewhere close to me, I can rarely resist the temptation to take them over - after all, they have class-15 or somesuch planets normally. Of course, in larger galaxies, you can have both - take the planet of some minor that is close by, and trade with some other minor half galaxy away.

Minor races = cannon fodder

The Snathi were far from cannon fodder during this one game I played. Damned Dreadnoughts were a pain to deal with...