Well, TEC starbase has a magic red button ability that will make the SB explode and deal 8000 damage to anything in the aoe. Very effective. Kills all but caps. LRMS lose to Illums, so don't bother trying. TEC scouts beat Illums, and I'm pissing a lot of people off with this discovery.

TEC Repair bays rock. Marza should be ur first capital ship for missile barrage at level 6 (ability destroys entire fleets). Kodiaks still kick ass. Hoshikos still kick ass.

Fighters don't really work anymore. Flak kill them too quickly. Community wants a fix. Bombers are still ok units. Flak kill 'em too though, just much more slowly.

For entrenchment: Just do an easy game or a game with no AI and just have pirates on and let them be your starbases target practice (lvl 3 military research required). Upgrading them is expensive, but watching them destroy a pirate fleet in seconds is worth it. Be warned of new anti structure ships though, and bombers still do a good job against them, as do high level mothership + guardians + lots of Illums (though big red button could destroy most of them).

In reply to your actual question, starting strat, TEC is a great faction for getting your eco up and running fast. You only need to build a couple of Civ research stations and you can research the Tradeposts tech. From there just expand as quickley as you can and start building up your trade.

Depending on where you want to go from here, you can either get ready to turtle, or move out into Offensive.

For turtle, your next move is to build 3 military reserch stations, so you can reserch the things that build the starbases, this is in the Defence Tree of the tech tree. Once you have expanded enough that your are happy you will be able to keep it under control, build a couple of starbases at the outermost planets of your area and upgrade them a bit. These can also be upgraded to have a tradepost on them, so more money if you want to outlay the initial cost. From there, you will be able to save up lots of cash, and build up an awsome fleet. Best way to take planets when you eventually want to go into O is to have lots of the carriers and build plenty of bombers, even if you come across a fully upgraded starbase, with 60 bombers, you will be able to take it out without losing many ships at all. Also make sure you have one of the starbase builders ready to move in right away once your fleet has got to the planet because they can become good backup if your fleet is taking a few hits.

When it comes to O with TEC i havent had a lot of experience, i like to turtle and Feed or D for a while depending on wether i am playing AI or online. Its my general understanding that Marza is the best Cap Ship, so make sure this is your first build, they are great for raping planets quickley in endgame. Like i said before, carriers and bombers are awsome, i love jumping into a grav well with lots of them, doing a strike run on a few research stations then jumping back out.

Hope this helps a bit and gets your TEC games up and running a bit.

Have Fun!

Kol, Marza, and Akkan are all perfectly valid choices for first cap for TEC.  All have great damage output, all are quite tough, and all have great abilities.  Unlike Advent and Vasari, there is no definitive "right answer" for TEC's first capital ship.

For second capital ship, anything goes.  Dunov is great, situationally Sova can be wonderful, and rounding yourself off with a Kol, Marza, or Akkan (I wouldn't get a duplicate of the one I already have) are all great choices.

Honestly, aside from the thorny issue of missile barrage and the mediocrity of the Sova, the TEC capital ships are quite well balanced and the one you choose really comes down to personal taste rather than something that outclasses everything else.

Agree that Sova is a weak choice unless you are rushing  Dunov is a good second choice.

Akkan DOES enable faster colonization if you use it properly, and it can actually be a pretty nasty ship if you support it properly with a fleet.  I think Akkan and Marza are the best first choice ships.  Kol was a good choice when strikecraft were OP, but now that Flak works better and strikecraft build more slowly, Kol is marginalized again.  This isn't because the Kol isn't tough, it is the toughest ship in the game....but it doesn't add as many decisive tactical or strategic abilties to your deck of cards, it is just hard to kill.  Both Marza and Akkan have powerful tactical or strategic value.  Rapid colonization, rapid planet bombardment, MB, and even a well timed Ion Bolt can have huge impacts on a game.

volt, the akkan is far more useful as a cap then you give it credit for. First off, the colonize is lackluster compared to the other races, but you never need anything beyond level 1. The akkan is one of the best ship killers in the game however with ion bolt, It can prevent cap ships from running, using abilities like shield restore and missle barrage and so forth. Targeting uplink is extremely useful, as the extra range puts your orgov well beyond star base abilities, allows your garda to be EXTREMELY effective against strike craft, and near a star base, the extended range is godly. Armatice saves games, period. IF you are about to lose a cap ship, armatice to save it, if you need time to get a star base uprade, armatice, if you need to save a partners fleet/cap, armatice. Also with good micro, you can repair structures ships while allowing them to remain safe. The akkan is far far better than the marza as a first cap because of this. PLus, when you do get a marza, don't worry about it getting sniped as much.

Another thing to consider is the map... if your on a map with alot of neutrals and alot of vasari... well... if your not carefull... they are going to have 15 metal and crystal income to your 5... and if your against an advent player... be ready for the almost inevitible illum spam... if your in a isolated postion (you know... when your 3 allies are on the other side of the map, and you got at least 2 fleets bearing down on you) you should prolly consider an akkan as your capital ship... since you are prolly going to end up running and colonizing the middle of the map... If one of your flanks is protected by an ally... go for something a little more aggressive... a kol or marza or...  if you really like danger... build a sova... and go camp your enemies's homeworld... that 30%/70% of his 14.3 credits/second income your earning can hurt him, and give you a nice little bonus... hopefully enough so that you can use that little bonus to buy yourself a real capital ship... rofl... but this is not recommended if your going against preetty much anyone who knows how to play.