Using fleets

[Dogboy]

I've heard that when using fleets, one should have task forces that have separate types of ships, each with orders appropriate to its strengths (e.g., a fleet of point defense ships, another fleet with missile ships, another with heavily shielded beam ships, another with troop carriers.)

But, the designation of "leader", "core", "escort" and "picket" is made at the task force level. So, how do I arrange, e.g., the point defense ships in task force 1 to defend the ships in task force 2?

[Captain Kwok]

You wouldn't really do that. You'd through a couple of the PD ships in with each task force instead. The goal is just to have the PD ships interspersed amongst the other combat ships.

[Dogboy]

Thanks. What is the main point of putting ships in different task forces?

[Captain Kwok]

To accomplish different objectives (such as capture planet) or to organize a group of ships to maximize their strategy (such as missile ships at max range).

[dmm]

You could have a group of PD ships in a separate task force with "Point-blank range" orders. So they would keep themselves between your fleet(s) and the enemy fleet(s). This might give them two turns to knock out missiles instead of one. (The enemy ships would likely ignore them unless they were the only ships in range.)

I haven't tried this myself though, so caveat emptor.