[Geckomlis]

Geckomlis:
I agree with all of that except the one-turn lifetime.
In order for the drones to remotely repair a ship, they need to be able to move, and then sit at the target and do their thing.
Also, if each drone Lasts 5 turns then you can get situations where you might want to waste some repair capacity in order to reush the repairs. (E-Repair, sort of like E-build)

EG:
Your fleet has 25 damaged components. You can:
A) Launch 5 drones, and completely repair your ship(s) in 5 turns.
B) Launch 13 drones, and completely repair your ship(s) in 2 turns, but waste 40 potential repair points.

If there is an enemy fleet 3 turns away, B may be a better choice, as you need your ships in peak condition for combat, and the cost of 8 "wasted" drones is acceptable.

I agree that the one-turn lifetime is a purely personal preference for a certain game mechanic, i.e. using drones as counters for expendable munitions and/or spare parts. Your concept is just as valid. You could also achieve the same effect by allowing repair values > 1 on drones with the one-turn lifetime.

In regards to the mobility issue:
From a practical standpoint, repair drones will only be able to be used in the sector they were launched in or at the far side of a warp point they are ordered to attack. Impracticably, you could order them to attack an enemy planet in anticipation of needing the repair capacity in that sector. You could also order them to attack an immobile enemy ship or base for the same reason.

Gecko