How does one go about ground combat?

[raynor]

Research Construction, then research Troops. Then, research Troop Weapons. You will gain the ability to construct a new unit called a Small Troop. Design a Small Troop as you would a new ship.Build several of these and load them up in a ship with some sort of cargo component. Now, put this ship in a fleet with other warships and give the fleet a strategy of 'Capture Planet'.

Now, when you attack a planet strategically, your warships will first neutralize the planet's defenses and then send your transport to drop troops.

If you want to do this manually, let your warships neutralize the planet's defenses. Then, move your troop transport next to the planet and select 'Drop Troops' from the Orders menu.

If you are going to run the planetary assault in Tactial, you gain a lot more control over what your ships destroy. If you keep an eye on how many weapon emplacements (WEP)'s in cargo, you can stop firing once they are all destroyed and not damage anything else on the planet. In fact, you can even fire individual weapons on a ship by de-selecting them.