Just had my first couple of battles in Universe1. Won 1 and drew another. Good tip - Build espionage probes as soon as you can and probe any planets near you that are inactive. They list with an (i) on the galaxy map. There is one near me that used to be a top player, until someone wiped him out. But he still has his mines cranking out some serious resources, so I send my cargo ships back and forward to rape his planet