Task Force/Ship Strategies and the Seperation of Fleets

Maybe using the Dont Get Hurt Strategy could help. I dont trust the IA of mi ships so in cases like these I prefer to manually order the ships to stay at a given point until the battle is over.

I think individual ships use their own strategy only if they break from the task force.

Changing retreat from "flee" to "stay near combat ships" might work...

Yup, individual ships only use their own strategy when separated from the main force. Thats why Fleets and Task Forces arent very usefull early in the game.

---
Learn to overcome the crass demands of flesh and bone, for they warp the matrix through which we perceive the world. Extend your awareness outward, beyond the self of body, to embrace the self of group and the self of humanity. The goals of the group and the greater race are transcendent, and to embrace them is to achieve enlightenment.

* Chairman Sheng-ji Yang, "Essays on Mind and Matter"

I use this deliberately, even in the early game. The ship strategy for each class is set to what I want them to do if they're on their own, surprised, etc. I then use task force strategy to override that when I have a specific mission in mind.

For instance, in the latter part of the early game in a lower-starting-tech universe, my moderately armed scout designs are set to "Don't get hurt". They've got a reasonable chance of fleeing and surviving, and by default forging onward deeper into what is now clearly enemy space to return intel on the enemy's planets, fleet disposition, etc. is more important than any single combat.

However, sometimes I might want them to hold a forward warp point to prevent enemy colony ships and even more lightly armed scouts from establishing a foothold while I get more useful ships to the scene; so I'll create a "fleet" of one around the scout and give it task force orders to attack.

Slightly later on, those same ships may not have offensive weapons useful in a real battle, but they still can provide extra point defense, so they're likely to get added in to the Planetary Assault task force to provide some more cover for the troop transports. By then, they're almost certain to loose against real military forces if surprised while alone, but if I can waste a few enemy movement points chasing them down, that's worth it.