Problem is, fast ships can normally just skip right past that range advantage WPs have to do tons of damage before the WPs get a chance to fight back, often destroying most, if not all, of the WPs before they can shoot.
40 ships is a small group as far as I am concerned. I think we are talking a totally different order of scale here.
In my experience, WPs have never been anything more than an annoyance in the mid and late games. Only in the early game have they been a real threat.
[ October 16, 2003, 01:58: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]