[Suicide Junkie]

The problem with sweepers is that they all hit before any mines attack. So if you have sweepers, minefields go pfft.

You just bring enough for the max mines, and then you can fly full speed ahead without fear.
If you increase the maximum mines per sector, then the mines all get dumped on the warppoints... and if you don't bring enough sweepers, your fleet gets vaporized by hundreds of mines... if you do bring enough, you take no damage at all.
At warppoints, you can't see the mines on the far side anyways.

With no minesweepers and a low maximum on mines...
Your fleet moves, and takes a couple hits to armor. Each mine hits a random ship, so the damage is spread out. The low maximum means your fleet is not going to get vaporized.
A bunch of ships will lose a couple armor plates, and if you're unlucky, one of your ships may take two hits.
You can press on if there is low risk of counterattack while you are weak, stop to repair, or send unlucky ships home.


In any case, mines should definitely be a disableable tech area.