I understand the tonnage is not the optimum way of judging of the outcome battle.
Personnaly I would not mind the AI automatically knowing the design of every human ships, because organic intelligence (humans) can figure the capabilities of the AI ships by our general experience in SE4. For the AI, every game is a new one.
If the AI knew the capability of every ship, it could run every potential battles in the simulator, and based on the results, decide how to move its fleet.
A potential battle should not just be a possible attack by the AI, but a possible attack by another player (i.e. Most ennemy fleet within immediate range.)
That would solve the problem of AI keeping inferior fleets right beside my fleet. Usually, in warfare, you pool forces behind the front-line, and after, you send them !
Right now, I am Mega-Evil, and there is know way my stretched fleets could withstand the blow of a single AI fleet, if it were to put up most of his ships in a single fleet. Right now however they are giving them to me piecemeal. I want to be defeated ! I play on hard, low bonus, no mines.
Mich