Hello everyone,
I am one of those players who designs ships with main batteries firing out to 30 hx. I have played a game against ships whose weapons had a maximum range of 15 hx. My ships are speed 6, my opponant's were speed 7. I was able to maneuver and keep the hostile ships from closing range for many turns. My ship was outnumbered, but pounded the shorter-ranged ships. In the end, they were all destroyed, and my ship had taken light damage. Being able to fire on the enemy ships when they cannot fire back worked for me... :!:
If you plan to use ships with shorter-ranged weapons, then make them significantly faster than ships with longer-ranged weapons.