.

I like the pic. but let's state the pointers.
*peaceful.

It is faster to invade the minor civ for free vines... or IS IT?

Take note that progressing military tech tree painfully increases the cost of ships (for some reason vineships included).

Given you can avoid reseraching military tech altogether (a popular strat too) I suppose it still can be faster to make a fleet of scoutships/T1 equipped mil ships and invade anyway, but at least vineships are cheaper.

And then again, there is the whole argument that vineships are "permanent value" and each system pumping vineships essentially gets you closer to the one turn entwining (at least on fast this is fairly ez pz).

My humble suggestion would be to enable quests and assimilation of minor factions WITHIN the entwining range, rather than requiring them to be entwined.

And to free the vineships (which are unable to carry guns) from "leveling with military tech tree and increasing their price).

I also hate how the autogenereated isolated choke points pretty much enable you to kill half of unfallen empire by taking one system. (or entire empire by taking home system, trololo)