[rdouglass]

I always equip all my attack ships Cruiser size and over with at least 1 Null Space Cannon with the largest mount available. Yes, you have to get a little closer, but a few volleys of NSC's and the guts of his ships will be emptied quite quickly. Yes, I do understand about the reload times, yet it does bypass ALL shields and ARMOR. Once the enemy has lost a few vital components; ie. weapons, combat sensors, engines, etc. then all the organic armor in the world won't be a whole lot of help.....

Of course, as suggested, bulk up on shields and get the advanced armors for the defensive modifiers....