I turn them off entirely. I'm playing Factorio to make trains and things to make the trains train about the place. Ain't got no time for random critter waves.

Well... When you level up a bit, your trains become an unstoppable bug-mashing barrier around the perimeter of your base. The bugs try to cross the tracks and SQUISH! No more bugs. No need for turrets or ammo, just trains.

It's the Factorio equivalent of the mine cart blender room trap in Dwarf Fortress, certified to kill even clown invasions.

- Generate new random seeds until you spawn in a forest / grassland area. Greener areas absorb more pollution so the pollution travels less across the map.

- Set spawn area to largest. Earliest biter nests get generated farther away, making it more difficult for your pollution cloud to reach them

This way you can play largely in peace without having achievements disabled.

Starting in a forest/grassland area will give you more time until the biters come.

Or just play in peaceful mode, there is still so much good gameplay left even without the challenge of biters.