Capital ship numbers

Right off the bat build the Kol battleship and as many cobalt light frigates as possible. Explore/expand ASAP. You Kol will level up quickly and should outdo any opposing Capital ships early on pretty handily. You should be able to capture 4-6 planets early on replenishing your cobalt light frigates accordingly and running with the Kol as you aggressor. After accomplishing this begin to add the LRM's to your fleet. I spend no $$/resources on anything against AI until I've taken as many surrounding planets as possible.

The LRM's must be micro-managed differently then most other frigates in your fleet. They are very effective but only if they are kept out of the middle or intense part of the battle. I always assign the LRM's to a number key and make sure to manage them @ set them up at the longest distance possible in every battle.

Marza's are the TEC AoE ( Area of Effect ) ships, and one of the best single ship on single ship caps in the game. Once Leveled up, they have splash damage, radiation bombs, and missile barrage, all of which can hit multiple ships or cause continual damage. No suprise your LRM fleet got stomped. A few radiation bombs and a missile barage or two and I bet they folded like cheap paper, leaving the Kol alone. Where you got hosed was the AoE damage. straight ship-to-ship DPS and the two fleets were about even. I bet radiation bombs were eating LRM's like a ten year old on a bowl of M+M's..

Buy the time the AI has two Marzas, you should have a few Caps of your own. Sometimes, while hard to swallow, retreat is an option. You should have at least saved the Kol. You might try to concentrate on killing one Marza and then bail before you lose the Kol. I will usually retreat with the remains of my fleet rather then stay till the bitter end. A few LRMs and a beat up Kol is still the core of a new fleet.

ahh! Thanks guys, that explains alot then!

Run away!!!!

(and build some hoshikos to repair your fleet!!!)