Well... when you have played many PBW games, you get an innate feel for what you will need at various times in the game.
My ship designs do vary depending on the enemies and other game situations and such; they just end up being rather similar from game to game.
Geo, I normally research to DUC V and PDC III before getting Chemistry or armor. Destroyers with 5-6 PDCs slaughter all early game fighter/missile rush strategies.
