[Baron Munchausen]

Like all computer simulations, SE IV has a hard limit on the number of ships you can have in the game. In 'the real world' you could overwhelm any technologial or size advantage with sufficient numbers but in a game the 'ant swarm' strategy is limited by the limits of the computer program you are running. So while there are some advantages to many smaller ships -- such as more flexibility in deployment -- the fleet with larger ships will ultimately almost certainly win due to mounts and some other advantages of scale.

I hope that the use of 'real time' in SE V combat will allow some real advantages for smaller ships to be preserved, such as speed and maneuverability.