In case no one else noticed, one of the major ingame freeze/crash bugs seems to stem from enemy ships leaving a kill zone. I have been able to consistently reproduce the crash effect.
1. Build a fleet consisting of at least 30 ships (to ensure the enemy retreats and at least one of your ships are firing at withdraw)
2. have them either attack a system containing an enemy fleet, or wait to get attacked.
3. After trouncing the majority of their force and watching them withdraw, focus fire on one of the ships leaving.
It seems that if it is killed right before it jumps out it freezes the game. It should also be noted that I have watched this occur each time at a close zoom level. I am unsure if I can produce this effect if I am not observing the fight. I'll have to try it out. Anyway, let me know if anyone else has been able to reproduce this effect.
-Leid