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Yeah, oddly enough I did search for other threads before making my own. I haven't had much luck with workshop ships, as most of them have no description or information whatsoever.
not exactly what you're looking for, but might give some useful info
this thhread may be more on point
Searching 'homecoming' on the Workshop offers a perfect study in MPDT tomfoolery, though it is the only result.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1137684778
I know it's one of the earlier submissions so it may not work anymore, but the general idea for achieving ez modo is to use a multi-gigawatt MPDT vessel (which at these power levels will have >200km/s DV). If you don't know how2reactor you can nab some modules from Apophys Electrics @ http://childrenofadeadearth.boards.net/thread/1624
If you just don't care you can go into infolinks > concept > unlocking content and mods > click button. You'll eventually need to do that to access black box modules even after beating the campaign anyway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20ghskD_8Cg&list=PLEhL6-C6hWu533OucqV8J62qzs16NBEl5&index=9
To get to shoot anything you first need to get there.
First step is breaking Thermis orbit. Using tangential thrust only, I got a trajectory that JUST sent me inwards towards Sol, but started wrapping back to follow typical solar orbits. This should use microscopic dV, around .005 in my case. This broke me from Thermis' orbit, and no doubt could have been min/maxed for precise exit trajectories to save on time or dV, but in this case, Thermis' gravity is so low I don't think it's worth worrying about.
Once I saw my trajectory no longer continued an orbit around Thermis, and instead headed inwards, towards the Sun, I switched frame of reference from Thermis to Mars. I think I set my next burn 2 weeks out, but at any rate, soon after leaving Thermis orbit I adjusted the trajectory to get near mars but overshooting it a bit(remember, Mars frame of reference!). I didn't line up directly with Mars, but based on my trajectory, and the Mars focal point, I was wrapping around the back side of it. Mostly tangential burn, but also slight radial. What I was looking for, not only in this burn, but future burns as well, was a nice smooth curve, no sharp bends, but mindful of the termination point (end of time limit on current trajectory, if I'm not mistaken). You want the termination point to extend a ways past Mars, otherwise, you won't have time to make future burns, regardless of remaining dV. I believe I was at 5.1dV spent at this point.
Know that you're not on an identical plane to your target. At this point, I did my best to make minor adjustments to my previous "post Thermis exit" burn to adjust plane so that I was as close as possible to Mars plane upon approach. Biggest problem, looking back, is UI. May not be a problem for some, but lining the camera up for accurate planes was a major hassle. That, and the fact that a minor adjustment on the plane after already being adjusted, seemed to inevitably throw the previous adjustment out the window, so I had to start from scratch, adjust camera, see what new adjustments had to be made, then inevitably start from scratch again as plane jumped wildly from previous setting at the slightest movement. Can't help you there.
Once I had a trajectory that slightly overshot Mars, but wrapped back towards it (not around it), and was pretty damn close to in-plane, the 'fun' began. How to wrap that trajectory around the red planet? I tried many adjustments at different points closer to Mars to get a nice curve around it that would allow rendezvous with the station at acceptable dV costs, but did not succeed. I occasionally got an option for rendezvous with the base, but the cost was initially asronomical (200+dV) and at best, way too high(20dV). I had to go back to my "post Thermis exit" burn numerous times to tweak it and get a trajectory that was gentle enough on entry around Mars, but not so gentle that time would run out.
Trial and error led me to my 3rd and 4th burns. What I was looking for at this point was as circular as possible entries into Mars so I could limit any dV costs once in Mars' gravitational well. Keep in mind the time limit, represented by the end of your trajectory line. It always needs to overshoot your target. My 3rd burn was well away from Mars, in my case (Mars reference, remember) about the time my trajectory really started to curve inwards towards it. My 3rd burn also included a slight inclination change to finetune the approach and limit the dV cost to rendezvous with the base. 4th burn was pretty close, just before starting the curve around Mars, but like the 3rd, will take some trial and error to get the right 'curve' towards a Mars orbit, and slight inclination change may help. My 4th burn brought the option to link with the base, and at this point the cost was within my dV limits, due, I believe, to the relatively gentle final approach to Mars.
There are better strategies, and better explanations of those as well as of this flawed one, but this is what eventually worked for me. Bigger brains than I can explain the particulars, but alas, I cannot.
Credits:
ReadySetRudy youtube video on Homecoming mission
Didn't follow his example to a T, but the only video I watched on the level, and it helped me out.
I used a large methane tanker for the mission.
I started with a 1 km/s tangental burn to break Themis orbit, and then shifted to Mars as my point of reference. Every month for the next 4-5 months, I would do a 0.5 to 1 km/s radial, tangential, or out of plane burn with the goal of intercepting Mars with time to spare on the mission. Then I coasted until I was a month or two out.
At this point, I was looking at using most of my remaining time and delta-V to make Mars orbit. Zooming in on Mars, I saw I had two intercepts for the cargo station: a 60 km/s intercept at the bottom of the station's orbit (when it was basically coming straight at me) or an 8 km/s intercept with the station at the top of its orbit (overtaking it from behind). The key thing to note is that the high delta-V intercept was the only one that showed up until I zoomed in a lot and got very close to the station.
I chose the overtaking intercept, waited two more months, and completed the mission.
The thing that tripped me on previous attempts was relying too much on pre-plotting my trajectory from Themis. I would do it in multiple burns, but I would plan them all from the start. The UI didn't like that very much - it was much better to get close enough from the start and then refine when I was close. You do get more bang for your buck when you make your course burns from far out, but 2-3 months out from Mars is plenty far enough out to start fixing your out of plane issues, instead of trying to figure all that out from Themis.