[quote=@WilsonTurner]
[@Willy Vereb]
[img]http://oi55.tinypic.com/66k7ps.jpg[/img]

Okno.

But I get what you mean- I'd just rather have something that makes it more... tactical. Opening fire with a hodgepodge of everything isn't as effective. A mass driver would be better used first, since it can do more damage to shields faster and better than a laser, but is more likely to miss. Missiles might be better for hitting areas where the armor has been stripped away by a series of lasers, so that it can do more damage, or you can load special armor-penetrating missiles, or something to take out shields. 

I'm basing this off of the rather balanced mechanics of both FTL: Faster Than Light, and from World of Warships, because it's more than words. FTL from Fractured Space.  

I'm having the kind of thing that this_does_this_better. That way, for example, my Cirrus lightships would have reduced effectiveness against heavily shielded targets- which are likely to high priority targets. It's as much for me as it is for others. Take, for example, the warping/teleporting/jumping of Fractured Space. You can activate at any time, though the cooldown is significant compared to how fast combat progresses. And in Fractured Space, you have to get away and out of range to jump somewhere without taking extra heavy damage. Even the heaviest ship in the game can be quickly destroyed when it activates its jump drive. 

FTL would have to be overall, quicker, but during combat, a few minutes' charge could be like hours, and plenty of time to be destroyed. 

Combat has always been a problem, because while relying on everyone to just be a good roleplayer, people, including mean, do get a little too competitive. It doesn't turn out to be "what will sound better," it turns out to be, "Who will win."

Putting SOME rules down for that kind of thing means that there is a bit more to go on than just people's word and rough estimation of what should happen.

Dozens of ships rather than thousands is what I want, because I don't want these supermassive nations with hundreds of planets and massive fleets. I'd rather have it so that most systems may have one or two smaller ships, and simply call for help. That way actual strategy takes place, rather than

"I seen an enemy! Ready the 10,000 ship defense fleet!"
"We're attacking! Bringing in another 100,000 ships as reinforcements to the original 50,000!"
"Shit! They have more! Call for reinforcements! Bringing in 150,000 extra ships!"
"Oh dear! They have more ships! Call in for more help from our allies!"
"Crap! They brought in another 200,000 ships from one of their allies! Call for help from OUR allies!"
"Crap! They brought in 150,000 more ships! Quickly, rush them! Our strategic and tactical expertise is no match for them!"
"Crap! They're rushing straight into our guns! Fire everything, blow everything up, call for more reinforcements!"
"Crap! They brought in more ships, call in for more ships, have them all rush in!"

Which is, to be honest, how most battles go. 
[/quote]

I usually prefer quality over quantity in space fleet games.
Reason why I seemed to always play to cautiously. It's expensive rebuilding a single ship several times.