Some newbie thoughts...

[Taqwus]

On fighters, well, they can't traverse warp points by themselves -- to do so, you need a carrier. They also can run out of supply fairly quickly without support... and I don't like using them for long-distance offense because they die QUICKLY against PDCs, and replacing them in enemy space is a bear (either stop to build *slowly* with spaceyard ships, or do carrier chaining); I prefer building advanced, self-sufficient fleets that can wreak as much havoc as need be without ever needing to return to port. As for the AI not adapting, well, it's scripted in many aspects, such as ship design and research... which isn't surprising given that Malfador isn't exactly a huge company employing dozens of AI specialists, which might still be insufficient for such a *customizable* game due to the extreme number of degrees of freedom. And on formations... ISTR that there's a command to 'clear assignments' or 'clear orders' in tactical mode, which basically removes every ship from formation.

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-- The thing that goes bump in the night