by Petri
Syndicate is probably the worst race for turtling, so you need to be active and start aggression against the ancients very early. They start with a pair of interceptors and even without finding any new planets they can build a cruiser on turn two.Even without any research you can pull off excellent odds against the ancients on turn two, but you can also attack a single ancient on turn one if it's critical (for example Descendants take the sector unless you go there now).
Using just the basic components, you can get the following odds:
Single ancient
2 interceptors: 43 %
2 interceptors (hull): 75 %
2 interceptors (computer): 73 %
2 interceptors (cannon): 71 %
2 interceptors (-), 1 cruiser (-): 93 %
2 interceptors (hull), 1 cruiser (hull): 99,3 %
2 interceptors (computer), 1 cruiser (cannon): 99,3 %
2 interceptors (cannon), 1 cruiser (cannon): 99,2 %
All other upgrade combinations give slightly worse odds, but still 98-99 %.
Double ancients
2 interceptors: 5 %
2 interceptors (hull): 20 %
2 interceptors (computer): 23 %
2 interceptors (cannon): 24 %
So don't attack double ancients on turn 1.
2 interceptors (hull), 1 cruiser (hull): 82 %
2 interceptors (computer), 1 cruiser (cannon): 87 %
2 interceptors (cannon), 1 cruiser (cannon): 86 %
All other upgrade combinations give you worse odds than 85 %. So you get nice odds even against double ancients on turn two. Against single ancient upgrade hull+hull is probably the best, because it minimizes the chances to lose an interceptor, but the pure odds to win favor computer+cannon upgrade against both single and double ancients.
It's good to memorize these optimal initial choices. You can reliably kill even double ancients on turn two by just spending 1 action for building, 1 for upgrading and 1 for moving. All other actions you can use for exploring if needed.