ok, have done further tests:
1) A fleet on optimal fire, with ships break formation, and composed of 3 torp DD and a troop trs will perform identically to a fleet with a capture planet. Seems like the fleet strategy is not used at all if ships break formation. My transport took the planet.
2) and 3) ok I restested that too. What bother me here (I'm like to be a logical man), is the following fact : the AI is capable of ordering a cease fire to armed ships when the planet is not a threat (thus allowing the troops to arrive), BUT there is no orders which would make an armed ships fire against a planet UNTIL all weapons are gone. The algorithm is here, but were are unable to use it ?
What I mean is that I'm searching for an order to attack a planet, trash all defences, then stop firing, thus doing a blockade until a troop transport arrive in the solar system. And each turn, if the planet rebuild a defence, the ships would be reactivated and fire again until all weapons are gone again.
Or perhaps I'm missing this order. What I dont like as of now is that I'm still uncertain how to order my ships to NOT GLASS a planet, and only the defenses. A way must exists I'm sure.
new questions
4) When the secondary strategy of a ship is used?
5) Does a possibility exists to be sure that some ships are at the back initially, and some others at the front of the formation?
Thanks again for the explainations. I long for combat, but not before having ingested the fine art of war
