size of fleets midgame

[minipol]

thanks Fyron, i'll try that.

JLS: i was unable to recon the planets. It was very weird. My fleet of 46 ships with planet busters in the sector next to the planet i wanted to invade. I did some intelligence projects which all succeeded yet they didn't reveil any defences for the planet. However, when i attacked, i lost some 5 ships so their must have been planetary defences! I just couldn't see them. Weird.
The planetbuster ship proved invaluable for this attack. Unfortunately, the attack was over before the troops could be drop: the planets where wiped out and almost immediately recolonized by other alien races that i have a trade allience with.
That's one thing i would like in SE5: a way to keep friendly races out of your territory. Technically this isn't my territory but they had to travel through 3 systems to get there. I think there should be an easy way to stop this kind of ai behaviour. I have always detested it. Civilization used to suffer from this too. Drives me nuts.