[spoon]

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:

Perhaps a much simpler way would be to:
A) Use steps 1 and 2 to find out how much ammo the enemy will need to throw at you if you use shields.
B) Use steps 1 and 2 to find out how much ammo they have to use if you replace some shields with Stealth/Scattering armor.
C) The ship design which gives the bigger number is stronger.

That's a good way to go about it. Don't forget to add in the armor value of the defensive armors, too.