[Fyron]

Sardia said:
How do mines work in tactical combat?

They don't. Mines are encountered before combat. The total minesweeping ability of your fleet or ship is used to destroy 1 mine per ability point. Next, if there are any mines remaining, a detonation loop occurs. If there is a surviving ship, one mine detonates and damages a random ship, continue the loop. If there is no surviving ship, the loop breaks. After the detonation loop, if there are still any surviving ships, combat occurs.

Edit:
Btw, this thread is starting to grow unwieldy. Its better to make new threads for new questions. Better search results down the road, easier to track discussions, etc.