So I've been trying to make a Devouring Swarm Necrophage and it seems like they changed how Necrophage works. I remember there being buildings for converting pops and it seemed like they got converted more often than they currently do. Maybe it's just the devouring Swarm aspect that causes them to disappear verses being converted.

I've tried a bunch of strategies from expanding super quick to super slow and I always end up super handicapped because there's just not enough population to go around. I always run a deficit of Unity, Research, and Alloys no matter what it seems I do. I always seem to hold my own for a bit until someone declares war on me and invades with an Armada that's like quintuple the strength of my fleets and just obliterates me.

Any suggestions?