I've had pretty good luck with the standard weapons against all racial techs using the (well mentioned in these Posts) Phased Polaron Beams and the (not so well metioned) Null Space weapons. They seem to do especially well against both Organic and Crystalline 'cause NS weapons skip both armor and shields. The downfall is you have a slow reload time (3) and a relatively short range (5 IIRC) so you'd better have decent engine tech to get you in and outa' there. But, once you get a shot in, the damage to vital components (weapons, engines, etc.) racks up quite quickly and can shift the tide in your direction.
Another downfall is ships I've equipped with NS weapons don't seem to do well at all in strategic combat. But in tactical (with my favorite component - the Talisman), I have taken out 4 dreadnaughts with 1 LC using just NS weapons and standard mounts!!!
Of course, the PPB's do well 'cause of their quick reload, decent range, and of course, shield skipping for non-phased shields (for early game advantages).
(EDIT)
...and to Baron:
quote:
If you could send in two seperate fleets, one full of beam ships and the other full of torpedo ships, the coordinated attack of these two forces could be very difficult to deal with...
I too would like to do this. I have made a suggestion before (and other posters have as well) about a 'Battle Group' feature - being able to combine more than 1 fleet into a group. Give each fleet different combat orders, yet move them as fleets work now. That way you could have for instance, a group of missle ships working as a fleet doung their 'dance' and direct fire ships flanking to close off their escape and at the same time, fighter Groups from a mini-fleet of carriers closing in close to overwhelm any PDC's and mop up the straglers...
[This message has been edited by rdouglass (edited 31 May 2001).]