Alright, first things first: the iron-weaver machine gun is great for killing missiles, not for killing enemies. On the scarab class frigate, I suggest switching that front-most iron-weaver with a splinter volley-gun, and then replacing the duel shard autocannon with a solenoid quench cannon or a squall cannon. The ship itself should prove to be a bit more powerful under AI control due to how well the AI handles the ship system of that ship.
As for the new map in general, you basically have a position that sacrifices some ability to expand for a more defensible location. Not much I can help you with in this respect, other than to suggest that if you decide to go to war with an enemy faction yourself instead of waiting for war to come to you, attack the nihil, because the other two factions I noticed make an alliance. To attack the pirates is to go to war with both the pirates and the gedune. I actually suggest holding off on making war at the time, though, because you might have a chance at becoming allies with the nihil, which would even the odds quite well for you. Keep in mind that those trade-guild fleets are quite useful in that they will occasionally sell you ships and weapons from another faction, and that as the smallest faction the trade guild will be occasionally re-routing supply fleets to your station, giving your faction an overall boost in power at the cost of the other factions.
Oh, and I suggest saying something in this thread when you release a new video, so that people will know that you've released a new video.