So you discovered the magic number did you. Now you know the secret to the Rage!
Actually, I have no idea why they stopped at 162 ships, but they might be limited to one per planet if you look at all of the ship types in aggregate. Which Version of the Rage are you using? The different Versions have slightly different build rates. I can check the construction files for the specific Version (if I have that Version - I lost some of the earliest Versions due to computer problems, but I have the later Versions), to see what the total limit would be. Though it depends on what state it thinks it is in, so that may be why it is limited. I tried to keep the size of the fleet lower in non-combat states to keep maintenance from being a problem. The AI may consider itself in Infrastructure state, so it won't build as many warships.
As to why they don't attack, the AI does a very poor job coordinating its activities. It has gotten better in Gold than before, but still has problems. If you watch it turn after turn, you would probably see fleets moving across Rage territory for seemingly no purpose, only to turn back and go the other direction. The various ministers see a need for something and grab some ships to go do it, but they may not be close to the problem. Then, after a few turns they don't see that need anymore, so they send those ships off in another direction.
Send an attack fleet into Rage territory and start destroying some of their outlying colonies. See if that gets a rise out of them. Although, the minister problem mentioned above will still give them problems.
[ July 09, 2002, 17:05: Message edited by: Alpha Kodiak ]