So I tried playing two games today, one multiplayer with a friend, and another on my own, and both as Vodyani. They were the first games of Endless Space 2 I had played in the most recent update. I recalled that outposts could be leeched by leech-module equipped ships in order to be smothered, and then free up a system for my arks. Only problem was, in my first game, I lost the religious party early on, and started eyeing the Sophons nearby. So I declared war early so that I could smother a couple of outposts they had, rather than having to invade them with manpower and my main army later; the button for leeching was, however, greyed out on their space, even in a time of war. Then in my single-player game I've seen a similar phenomenon, but instead with the religious party still in power, and I can't leech Lumeris outposts despite seeming to have the requirements (war, or religious party+Cold War, and Leecher modules).

Is this a bug, has the system been changed, or am I just doing something wrong? I never did leech outposts down in the three(ish) earlier games I played using Vodyani; usually I waited for an outpost to become a colony and then invaded. It'd be great to be able to handle outposts without having to wait for their colony status to solidify.

Thanks in advance for your attention, and any assistance you can offer.

Yes, I was frustrated by this as well. I think it has something to to with Leechers unable to harvest systems without population of at least 1, and outposts fall in that category. I still don't know if this is intentional.

I certainly hope not. It makes outposts, particularly Lumeris outposts, frustrating to the max. Not to mention denying me one of the only sources of essence that doesn't spawn pirate fleets shockingly fast, or have the ability to build fleets. I'm finding my Vodyani starts extremely slow, and putting me hundreds of points in the hole, even when I somehow manage to research military ships fast, build a couple, and support a pair of leechers with them. Also building that minimum 2-3 ship fleet to fight off pirates makes dust upkeep a problem (combined with the hero upkeep from leveling, and Vodyani even get -50% upkeep).