I gather this is a rare enough event (I never saw the Imp AI try it until I heavily modded the game), so I wanted to know what people have seen as regards tactics.

 

After I severely cut the maintenance and materials costs for every Imperial Fleet unit including the Death Star, I finally started to see the Imps build one from time to time in games. Here's what I noticed (admittedly in a modded scenario, but not a crazy-modded scenario).

 

-They don't care who sees it. They'll build one right in the middle of the core sectors.

 

-They also don't care if they're circling down the drain resource-wise and surrounded by rebel worlds in the Coruscant sector. They'll build the thing on a planet with three normal shipyards, which should take, I don't know, a couple of years to build, even at 2/3 normal maintenance and material costs (I had the rest of the fleet set at 1/4 M/M cost).

 

-They don't defend it too well, even on hard difficulty. I've never seen the AI build a Death Star Shield, and I set it's research value to zero, so they definitely have the option of building one at any time. The construction planet has troops, but never crazy numbers of them like you'd see on a disloyal planet.

 

-If they do get it built, they tend to pair it with Interdictors, which makes sense.

 

-They name the damn thing like it's a capital ship. The one I blew up (on it's maiden assault, no less) was called Trampler.

 

All in all, it's a great blunder and a curiosity.

I really should start up a new game as the Rebs and do that, just to see the AI build one, and then smash it up.