firing order during combat

[gwichman]

I just had a pretty large combat where i moved my fleet into a space with a planet, 18 satellites, 2 bases, and 12 ships or so.. mym fleet had 19 ships. For some reason the ships flew in pretty much shotting at ships first (that met my ships on their way to the planet) but oncec at the planet, they seemed oblivious to the space stations and remaining 7 ships or so.. They all kept firing and firing at the planet, presumably to destroy the weapons platforms. For a looong time. Like 8 or 10 turns i'm guessing. Not sure why it was taking so long but in looking at the options for optimal firing range (default) it seems like planets are the Last on the list for priority.

Why did my ships spend so much time attacking the planets?

There was one ship in particular on the enemy side with null space projecter 3's that every few turns would nail a couple of my ships. That was really the only damage i took. Seems to me it was the biggest threat and i'm surprised my ships didn't destroy that ship.

Appreciate any help on this topic on how to avoid my ships getting so caught up in attacking the planet.