This is going to be my stratagies page. If you have a stratagy e-mail it to me at [email protected]. Later when I make a bank you will be paid for them(not real money).
When you are choosing your racial advantages, pick Natural Merchants, Propulsion Experts, and Ship Power Conversion with your other Advantages. They will save you a facility, 6000 construction points & 1 year construction time per system, .4 years resupply time, and give you a little extra movement to explore and go farther.
Peace is usually better than war.
When you are preparing to attack several ships in a row(the computer tends to form long lines between warppoints), leave the ships crippled, with no weapons, no engines, and no shipyards. Destroy any that have weapons or shipyards. Then retreat to a side that is closer to the next target. The end result is ships left crippled that your enemy has to keep paying for, and a free sector of movement(moving out of the sector after attacking has no movement penalty).
Large fleets of ships are overrated. I like small taskforces of 1-5 ships, and bases that guard planets and warp points. In the taskforces, I like to have the following ship designs(note: This is for shareware):
1 Point Defense-Cruiser
Inner Hull-Bridge, Life Support, Crew Quarters, Engines
Outer Hull-Engines, Mx5, Combat Sensors, 5 PDC, Shield Generator V, Shield Regenerator
3 Attack/Defense Ships- Cruiser
Inner Hull-Bridge, Life Support, Crew Quarters, Engines
Outer Hull-Engines, 9 weapon spaces(beam, torpedo, or planetary napalm), Combat Sensors, ECM, Mx?, Shields, Shield Regenerator
1 Carrier OR 1 Mine Layer OR 1 Mine Sweeper
I also like bases as outposts deep in enemy territory, usually in a storm system. The bases are 1 Spaceyard, 1 Carrier(loaded w/ fighters & 1 SY1), 1 Defense(armed to the teeth in guns), and 1 multi-purpose(SY, Weapons, Fighters, Mines, Troops). When I plan an attack(usually 20 turns in advance), I build other bases, like a base full of troop quarters, and have troop transports come in with enough protection to make it in and out. Then when I attack, I have an extra supply of troops, a repair station, extra fighters, and a few mines to set traps. On the shareware version, I have stoped a 30 ship fleet from making it into my space with those 4 bases, and lost only the carrier and multi-purpose, and got a badly damaged defense base. But, 4 bases stoped 30 ships.
SENT BY ADMIRAL KRELL

Here is my favorite defensive stratedgy for the REGISTERED version when we have achieved a high technological level build very very well armed and equiped Battle stations dont worry about the cost these will last make sure to add loads of fighter bays. Build 1 at each warp point in your home system if they are well designed they will stand up for years keeping out intruders, I myself have had a battle station up for 153 turns to my knowledge it has destroyed aprox 5,000 ships!!!!!!!!!!!
QUSETION FROM MIKE

Are there any defenses against shield- or weapon-damaging weapons? If not, then it seems very easy to cripple even capital ships.
Mike I'd be worried more about weapon- and ENGINE-damaging weapons, but there is one defense that I consider the most effective and the ONLY effective to shield and armor skipping weapons. Distance. The Tachyon Cannons, at the highest tech fire at a range of 4, every four turns, for a damage of 1. At this rate, it will fire a maximum of four(sometimes 5 if you use the Attack order while in the same sector as enemy ships) times, and it will have to be within a range of four. MM made weapon damaging weapons hard to use, because if they didn't, like you said, it would be VERY easy to cripple capital ships. With engine-damaging weapons this doesn't work as good. Distance still helps, but the main thing you have to do is take out the ships with Ionic Dispersers and Ionic Pulse missiles, and in the case of IPM's Point Defense Cannons help. Now, if I remember correctly, Ionic Dispersers have a maximum range of 6 and a maximum damage of 3. Stay outside six subsectors, and you're safe. For IPM's, there is a range of 10 and damage of 8, firing every 3 turns, if I remember. You need to keep your distance and kill the ships before you are left crippled. Now for the opposite side, if you are using these weapons, I would send in the engine damaging first so the ships don't run away, then I would send in some "disposable" weapon damaging ships, then bring in the main fleet for cleanup duty. I think that answers your question.