[PvK]

Building multiple MC's would be extremely wasteful in unmodded SE4 - it just takes another shot, or a larger virus gun, and MC's are expensive.

If you have a long-range weapon, you might be able to use Max Range/Don't Get Hurt strategy to keep them out of range.

Is SE4 1.49 before the fix that added a reload time when a ship gets subverted? If so, then if you can take one subverter ship with boarding (e.g. at a warp point defense), and/or intel, sometimes there can be a wacky subVersion chain-reaction.

You might want to look into large shielded fighters.

Ambush fleets at warp points.

Go capture their planets, avoiding their fleets.

Stellar manip them.

It's pretty tough to deal with virus + subverter in pre-Gold though - that of course is why the change was made.

PvK