OK so I've been digging through fleet command windows here. I think I have noted a few more features that I havent used. First, escort. The threat axis is in the direction of the fleet destination. So you can set up some PD craft to escort at 60,000 km, theres easy buttons to click and select these things on the F12 window. Suddenly area defense is viable without needing lots of clicking.
Does anyone use the escort functions? Would you like to post some tips and tricks?
Escorting opens up a few interesting strategies I might play with. I tend to build my main PD ships ships pretty large-- generally 4 full-sized quad gauss turrets. I've noted that in recent games, while the aliens like to hit my giant active sensor platform (he pings loudly) they also seem to really target the 16kton PD cruisers heavily. In an escorting area defense mode, this would constitute a weakeness, as they wouldn't have the support of the rest of the fleet and the full attention of their brethren. However, if one were to install a cloaking device on the ship, the escort ships would be less likely to be targeted at extreme ranges. Missiles would more likely target the core of the fleet, and let the cloaked area defense do their duty.