[Phoenix-D]

"1) do CM's fire only every other turn? If you have 4 on a ship - do they all fire at once or alternate?"

They fire every THIRD turn. Any weapon that is in-range and reloaded will fire; most of the time the CSMs will fire together.

"2) if they fire every other turn - then it seems wise to have some direct fire weps mixed in with the CM's. Yes?"

Not if you're using max range; your ships will linger in range of your (and the target's) direct-fire weapon, making the CSM's greater range useless.

"3) if given the choice - do you max out your DF weps or armor? If armor - what's the minimum DF wep(s) you install? Ditto for CM's."

Depends on the target. CSMs you want a lot of; generally two CSMs per enemy PDC.

"4) how about PDF's. How many or minimum do you install?"

One or two against most opponents, then bring in dedicated point-defense ships if needed.

"5) at basic tech lvl for each - do you install all available sensors (3)?"

No! You only need one sensor type to detect a ship in the unmodded game.

"6) once at contra-terrene+ with the extra movement point(s) - do you ever sacrifice an engine for extra armor or ...?"

No.

"7) do all DF/CM ships make sense?"

Yes.

"8) how about an all sensor/contra-sensor ship?" Yes, though the sensors are small enough I prefer to just drop a weapon to install it.

9") how about a picket ship with LR sensor and PDF's?"

Not all that useful.

Phoenix-D