We went with a medium tech start.
One of my fleets with 25 ships just knocked out one of his with 15. (Well, 14 after one of them decided he liked the odds better on my side. I love intel.

)
I have another enemy approaching from my other border with another fleet of 10-15. My ally has yet to get involved in the fight, but I expect him to come riding to the rescue soon. (I hope.)
Geoschmo