Thanks again for the replies.
And yes, Timothy mentioned the reason for my question - the AI was massing up its forces and crushing anything I had that was parcelled out in smaller groups. If I sent 2 CVs and some support and the enemy showed up with 6+, I lost my fleet with little return damage. A few turns of that and I would have nothing left.
After witnessing the AI do it, the next demo game I tried the same thing and had similar results - I didnt engage all that often, but when I did, I wrecked anything smaller than a full-on horde. The demo does not last long enough for me to see if it would be effective long-term or if my bases would be whittled down before I could reduce the enemy fleet sufficiently.
I guess I'll be able to find out in a few weeks if that is a viable (or dominant) way to play.
