[HreDaak]

I too think that the mines are not a problem in human vs. human player, but in situations where AI is against a human player they are. AI will send only 1 minesweeper at the time to clear minefields, even if it had plenty of them to use. It does not group them into fleets, or accompany them in regular fleets. So agains AI the mines are a formiddable weapon even in the late game...