Trade with them-and more importantly, get their economic and research treaties.

In TA they actually put up a decent fight as well, so if you want you can have them fight your wars for you.    Just don't forget to share your military tech with them if you do that-they don't research as fast as everyone else with their lone planet.

I have a sad tendency to dislike starting unprovoked wars, so I grab them their research and economic treaties - I just go around building my empire up - <G>.

I have been known to trade the tech capital or shrine of the Mithrilar to them - you can generally count on their actually building one of those, *then* when you invade later you have a second one - <G>.

Jonnan

I feel the need to um...resettle Minors to one of my red extreme planets first before I take over their homeworld.  What can I say, I'm a nice guy.  That and I avoid the diplomatic penalty for wiping them out.

Last game was one of the few times I ever initiated a war - the Thalans, Drathi, Torians, Yor, Snathi, and the Dark Yor were having their big intragalactic war raging across mostly my territory, while I was quietly fighting the dreadlords with no help from them, albeit building up to the complete defensive layout and nightmare torpedoes.

Upon defeating the Dreadlords I announced the imposition of Pax Technologica upon all involved parties (Gifting the Altarians, Iconians, and Carinoid one ship apiece to negotiate separate peaces+an alliance. They were smart, they agreed.). They strenuously objected. Mind you, this war of theirs had not resulted in any of them getting past category II weaponry.

It's *fun* to go from sending massive fleets versus the Dreadlord Homeworld to being the ones explaining that, no, your starbases and battleships can't take out my tiny scouts. Actually, they can't even penetrate my shields.

It gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling . . .

No . . . sorry, that was an expanding fireball of gas and debris . . .

{G} - Jonnan

Generally it means colonizing a crappy planet yourself, selling said crappy planet to the minor civ for everything they have, then invading their homeworld. Or occasionally paying someone to wipe the minor civ out, then buying the mostly-unpopulated planet.

Minor races = snack!  They have nice tasty homeworlds.  If you feel the need to spare their lives, declare war on them, then make peace a few weeks later, and they will bargain away their home planet and everything else they own, as TetleyTea said.  No need for any messy violence, for you grass-eaters with weak stomachs.

Sentient species taste better...

Even red planets are useful. You have to buy everything rather than build. Population and taxes are normal. Stock markets and morale items are normal. Even research is normal. Only social and military production don't work. So red planets can be revenue generating and research generating. Just wipe out any starports and factories since those are wasteful maintenance overhead until you research the needed colony techs. I typically trade with minor races since my trade routes will not be disrupted(especially if the minor race is deep in my territory) as I remove other major races. After giving them research and economiuc treaties and feeding them research and economic techs, they are generally a goos source of trade revenue(both direct and through the economic treaty) and occaisionally provide some side research. I can also get rid of some of my older obsolete ships by selling them to the minor race without much concern about them being used against me. Price is near scrap, but it keeps them strong enough that they can hold off other major races and occupy them without my needing to declare war. Especially if playing a race with war profeteering ability, keeping them battling other major races can be a good revenue source for building up my empire.