You're welcome. I made this optional ruleset because I love the game, but I hate the time consumption it requires. Which, in my opinion is a design flaw.
I really like how you lay out meta-game steps to improve game overhead like card dealing and action card exclusion and most of them don't remove gameplay elements.
Extra dice are a must and eventually the people I play with came to really similar considerations.
I feel like I should mention that significant starting-round gameplay time can be reduced by using the simulated first turn options. As a downside, however, the tempo of the game is slightly affected and some races that benefit from early-game special abilities are hindered. Adding the extra carrier for "Conquer Ready" seems like a simple though less drastic alternative to that option.
God bless you, sir!
