The player turn order is preset by the number of players in the game. While dividing troops may not be ideal, it’s also probably not a great idea let one player gain complete control over a region. There are also bonuses to players who control an entire region in the galaxy (there are six in total). If they are able to take control of 7 planets during set-up then they have completed 70% of their goal which might make for a quick game.
The main reason this setup is so important is because Cerberus wants to take control of 10 out of the 13 Strategic planets.
