[General Hawkwing]

Tactical is always the better choice. Two cases in point, I had 1 ship defending a warp point. The enemy would send 2 ships against it, in tactical I blew them away. Accidently hit strategic and lost battle, warp point control and had to intercept the ships before they found a colony to attack. In demo 0.56 I used strategic to clear colony planets. With WPs now used, I had taken to tactical and was clearing them that way. Well old habits die hard and hit strategic without thinking and ... minus 1 ship.
The best thing to do to get ready for multiplayer is to use the combat simulator to test and retest designs and battle plans. Select tactical combat, then "resolve combat" so you can follow the details.