[Stone Mill]

Originally posted by Raynfala:

If your tinkering only gets your ship built one turn faster, then your efforts have been wasted; you're going to have to wait another turn for the retrofitted ship to be repaired. You could have some other ship with repair facilities escort it to the front lines. But does anybody really want to micromanage this much? (you in the back: sit down... we all see you waving your hand )

waves hand

This is absolutely essential, especially in a heated contest. You want to bring your latest designs to bear against a tough foe. Sitting in wait increases the effective strike time against your foe, and reduces the potential impact/advantage of imposing your new tech (i.e. by the time you get to combat your combat has caught up).

Always fly with repair ships and repair your retrofits on the fly. And don't waste time retrofitting engines, only upgrade critical components... unless you really have a lot of time and minerals on your hands.