Hi evirus,
About the only time I restart is if I start too close to another faction. I like to play on really large maps with lots of room to expand.
Do you play SMAX (Alien Crossfire)? If so, there's a technique for getting better starting positions, especially on larger maps. Start a game, open the scenario editor (Ctrl + K) and save the map. Now start a new game and load that map file. Starting a game this way makes it much less likely that you (or the AI) will start on a small island. This tip works only for SMAX, not SMAC.
Petek