[Slick]

Shouldn't the problem then exist in both real combat and the simulator? It seems that there are many examples of the simulator not acting like real combat.

I am assuming that since you can't simulate planets outside your home system, you chose one of your planets of the same size as the enemy, and that you made your own weapon platform which is identical to the one you saw on the planet to load onto that planet. Maybe there are some differences that you can't simulate that make the difference. What about your ship's experience? If it is high, maybe it figured that it was "untouchable" at the closer range due to defense bonuses, which cannot be simulated in the simulator????