Well I've finally run through enough test games to get a handle on some tactics and start refining some ship types.  I noticed there is sort of a Tier effect due to the level 5 shields, essentially I have normal ships up to level 5 shields and then after that you start needing heavy Piercing or Shield ignoring weapons.  For me the cut off is around 600-700 points.

I'm still struggling with finding a use for fighters.  I've tried making some nastier ones, but I'm still finding that my battles are decided in the first 3-4 rounds and that the fighters are only just starting to have an effect by then.  I'm going to play around with some drones to see if that can impress me.

Cloaking is fun but very easy to get yourself screwed up since you can't see where you have moved (but I'm also running a 7 ship battle, playing both sides).
I like Stealth, but I need to work on keeping my long range ships out of range longer.  I'm going to try putting the main weapons on the rear arcs.  This could be tough as my map isn't very big.

Mines are cheap and suddenly create terrain on the map, which is fun.

I'm hoping to take this to our local gaming weekend and try it out on some real opponents soon.

Poliorcetes