[Alpha Kodiak]

In the stock campaign the engagements vary as the game progresses. In the early game you may only run into a pirate fighter or two. That can give you a little trouble as you don't start out with the tech you need to hit fighters well. Then, you start running into Groups of one to three destroyers or cruisers. Until you've upgraded to a cruiser, you will run into a lot of fights where your best chance is to run, and try to find some friendly local muscle to help (or at least a nice juicy freighter to distract the pirates while you make good your getaway. Once you get a more potent ship you can start taking your revenge.

A lot of the mid-late game fights are you in a battleship or carrier against a carrier group consisting of a carrier, a couple cruisers or even a battleship, and four to six fighters. Those can turn into real furballs. Sometimes you'll wind up engaging one carrier group, and a second one will get involved.

The endgame involves battles that require utmost care almost all the time. The bad guys start using null-space projectors and other nasty toys that can chew you up real fast if you aren't extremely careful.