My secod submission;
I came up with a suggestion that I just could't throw away.

Again, I will leae the web URL here:
http://tinypic.com/r/2llg56a/7The red areas are the buildable areas.
In this design there will be only 9 big areas to colonise (the centre one will most likely be taken earlier). This means alliances will have to rush or fight for a place in this world.
All the circular areas will have eough reach to the centre of the galaxy.
See you all on the battle field.