I had played a ton way back on my old CD version, I think mine was actually a 1.00 or even .98 or something VERY early. So with this version i am finding some things are VERY different.

On normal it wasnt a issue, but on Hard, is it normal for AI to just bum-rush your fleets and just use marines as their primary offensive force? I have lost FAR more to boarding than to ship\space combat by at least 3x, probably more like 5x.
So does this mean that my main building block will need to be security stations and troop pods, or can something else assist with this?
Currently they are taking the DCMS Charge of the Horde approach because they have more ships than i have guns, and while 5v1 i win, if they get close i lose the ship because they steal it. That is frustrating to say the least.

So how do I counter this? In the early game versions this was NEVER a problem, maybe 1 out of 10 attempts would work and that was only from Bulrathi or Klackon, no one else was effective.

As for rep, im a little confused, the AI's personality was always a little volatile, but now, you are capped, have very fruitful treaties and they just Pearl Harbor you. Is it as random as it seems, or is there something more to it? I get the you were framed by someone else.... ok, that sucks but sure, but when there is no warning at all is there a way to see this coming,m possibly counter for it?

Found the issue was Hard Shields. I had always used that in the past but the tooltip in ship builder just stated the base damage reduction. THAT'S why.

Other than having a high counterespionage score and lots of spies for protection (a dozen or more), there isn't much you can do about the random "you were framed" events... except understand that the Darloks are probably the ones doing it (and if the Darloks are not in play, then it is probably the Psilons), so the sooner you rush them and eliminate them, the safer you are. Also, the aliens will be more polite and deferential once you have a strong military... but you usually won't see that happen till late game.

You can "save scum" your way out of it by tricking the RNG to generate a new random number before the "you were framed" event happens. Understand that A) its not a true random result, rather the seed number for the RNG is saved each time and based upon the last random seed B) each time you contact an alien race and propose a new treaty, make a demand or ask for a gift, the game uses the RNG to generate a new random seed.

Thus, for example, you have reloaded your previous auto-saved turn and know that a "you were framed" event is coming up, so instead you contact an alien race and ask for something - and in doing so the RNG generates a new seed number. Save the game again and now when you subsequently end your turn, the random "you were framed"result will hopefully no longer happen. If it does, reload your saved game and contact a different race than before and do it all again (e.g. the RNG generates a 'random' diplomatic response using the previous seed for each race once per turn, but only if/when you initiate it). Repeat as needed.

Combat damage and missile/laser hits also use the RNG, so you can similarly generate new seed numbers by doing different things differently in battle from a previously saved game (e.g. fire and detonate a different number of missiles, shoot down a different number of enemy missiles, take/inflict a different amount of damage before escaping, get shot at by lasers for a different number of combat rounds before the battle ends, etc).

If you don't (or can't) save scum your way out of it, the only answer is to fight the offended aliens to a draw. Eventually if you are winning the war, they will sue for peace.