That's an interesting idea. It seems to me that it might increase the advantage experienced players and AI have over newer players though and that should be considered.

The reason I think that is because players will want to choose which defenses go in their defense slots. AI and experienced players won't take long about it and it won't delay their rush (if they're mounting one), but newer players might not even realise that's something they should do because it is free.

So I'm a little unsure whether this is likely to be a better "start advantage" than just giving homeworlds more tac or log slots. By all means arrange a test mod if there's a way to do this with modding.

Play larger, longer games. Rush tactics are only really viable in shorter games with smaller maps.