This is a dynamic document.  If you find something unclear, please let me know, and I'll attempt to fix it.  Better yet, make the improvements yourself, send them to me, and if I agree they're an improvement, I'll put them in.  If you have a question you don't see answered here, let me know, and I'll try to answer it.  Better yet, find out the answer yourself, and prepare an article for me to include in future versions.

1)         Purpose

2)         Useful links.
.
3.0)  Questions and Answers
3.0.0)    The basics:
3.0.1)       How can I join a new  email games?
3.0.2)       How do I play by Email?
3.0.3)       What other FAQ's are available?
3.0.4)       How do I host a game?
3.0.5)       Where else can I go to get answers to my Stars! questions?
3.0.6)        Where can I find a glossary of Stars! terms?
3.0.7)        What are the meanings of all those Stars! abbreviations?
3.0.8)        Where can I get a copy of the game?
3.1)     What is the exact order of events when turns are generated?
3.2)     How many and how dense are the stars in various universe setups?
3.3)     What are the basics of pop management?
3.4)     What is Chaff, and how is it used?
3.5)     Regarding the Mystery Trader...?
3.6)     Am I crazy, or is the help file / manual wrong?
3.7)      What downloads are available for use with Stars!
3.8)     What is 'Supernova', and what do we know about it?
3.9)     What are the PRT's of the Computer Players?
3.10)   How do I get Netscape to handle my Stars files?
3.11)   How the heck do you people manage to get over 25,000 resources by 2450?
3.12)   How many and how dense are the stars in various universe setups?

4)      Guts!  The equations behind the game
4.1)     Guts of bombing.
4.1.1)     - Defenses
4.1.2)     - Normal Bombs
4.1.3)     - Smart Bombs
4.1.4)     - Heterogeneous (mixed) attacks
4.2)     Guts of tech trading.
4.2.1)      -how do I set up a wolf/sheep site?
4.2.2)      -how do I set up invasions?
4.2.3)      -how do I gain tech from scrapping?
4.3)     Guts of research costs.
4.4)     Guts of scrapping/recycling/salvage.
4.5)     Guts of fuel generation.
4.5.1)  Guts of fuel usage.
4.6)     Guts of Overgating.
4.7)     Guts of beam deflectors.
4.8)     Guts of minefields and sweeping.
4.8.1)      -Analysis of best speed in minefields.
4.9)     Guts of population growth.
4.10)   Guts of ground combat
4.11)   Guts of Planet Values
4.12)   Guts of Mineral Packets
4.13)   Guts of 'Score' Calculation
4.14)   Guts of targeting in battle
4.14.1)   -Order in which Battleship weapons slots fire

5)     Population tables; 25%,33%, and 50% for various planet values
5.1)     Standard    (max. pop 1,000,000 on 100% planet)
5.2)     Standard with OBRM  (max. Pop 1,100,000 on 100% planet)
5.3)     JOAT    (max. pop 1,200,000 on 100% planet)
5.4)     JOAT with OBRM  (max. pop 1,320,000 on 100% planet)

6)     Additional info from the rec.games.computer.stars FAQ
6.1)     Known bugs
6.2)     Copy Protection Features
6.3)     In-game "features" / "cheats"
6.3)     Guts (Overpopulation, Minefields, Overgating)

1)  PURPOSE:
 This document has been assembled to help beginner and intermediate players become advanced and expert players.  It addresses questions that a person who is familiar with the basics of the game might find themselves asking.  It is intended as a supplement to, rather than a replacement for, the existing FAQ and support FAQ.
 The information presented here, for the most part, originated in the Stars! Newsgroup, rec.games.computer.stars.   Wherever possible, permission has been obtained from the authors to include their work, and credit given where due.

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2) USEFUL LINKS
    There is a wealth of information about various aspects of Stars! and Stars! strategy available on the web.   I have decided not to maintain a comprehensive list of such sites, mainly because there is no way I could do so as well as Art Lathrop does at his site:

    Here you will find links to hosting pages, places to find games, articles, downloads, a complete list of Stars! related sites with reviews and rankings, and much more!  Check it out!

 Also useful is the Deja-news newsgroup archive.  Here, you can search past newsgroup articles for the information you are looking for.  Also useful for looking up articles of current opponents, to see how they think!