newbie question

[General Woundwort]

Originally posted by smitty:
Other than moving population around, what is the purpose of transports?

Carrying spares. Take, for example, fighter combat. Fighters tend to break easily. If you have a carrier in your fleet, you can have a freighter full of spare fighters accompany it. You can then transfer fighters from the freighter to the carrier using the "Cargo Transfer" button whenever it starts to run low. Same goes for mines, satellites, drones, ad infinitum.

Also, is there a type of ship you can build that can travel with a fleet to keep the fleet supplied?

One of my stock design types is what I call a "Fleet Tender". I usually build it on a Light Cruiser or Cruiser hull, with enough speed to keep up with the rest of the fleet, 2-3 Point Defense mounts, and the rest of the space being Supply Storage and Solar Collector panels. I've found that having several of these in your fleet greatly increases its "space legs". (They are also handy as 'Aegis' defense ships when facing a missile-happy enemy ).