I want to try this game again. Here's what went wrong last time

I really enjoy this game, but a couple of things killed my motivation the last time I played. I was hoping you could help with some tips or maybe suggest a different playstyle or mindset. For context, I was playing as the Resistance, had some bases on Mars and Mercury, and was just starting to get into space combat—but I never managed to win a single fight.

1. Control Point (CP) pressure I reached a point where I controlled the U.S., China, and some smaller countries like Kazakhstan. However, their CP costs kept increasing, and I didn’t see a long-term solution for staying under the cap. I understand that being slightly over the CP limit isn’t the end of the world and that I could just stop expanding, but I didn’t feel like my nations were developed enough yet. Everyone I watched had much more advanced countries than mine at a similar point.
2. Space combat and ship technology The ship design system feels a bit overwhelming. I’m not really sure what research paths to prioritize or how to build effective ships. Space combat itself is also very challenging—I don’t fully understand what I can do to improve my odds. I’ve read some guides and watched videos of people destroying alien ships with a single low-tech design (can’t remember the exact loadout), but I haven’t been able to replicate that success in my runs.

So yeah, those were the two big issues I ran into. I’d really appreciate any advice!