Help setting strategies please

Step one is to be sure any ship or unit which isn't targeting something you think it should has weapons which can shoot at the target. I've messed up on this myself, so I know. This includes supplies and ammo.

For fighters, here's what I've got.

Targeting Priority 1 := Has Undamaged Weapons
Targeting Priority 2 := Total Targeted Damage

(Cont'd)

Targeting Priority 3 := Nearest (10 ls increments)
Targeting Priority 4 := Target Type
Targeting Priority 5 := Most Shields

One could move "Type" higher, but this risks bypassing closer armed targets. According to the changelog (1.37), you can set "All weapons gone" for planets, and they won't be targeted at all if/when they're unarmed. I haven't tested this yet. In all other cases, "All weapons gone" will cause a target type to be selected only after all other targets have been dealt with.

This simulator can be quirky. And I don't think it's the case, but you might need to cycle a turn to get the new strat to kick in. (Shouldn't be so, but it can't hurt.)

It's been a while since I altered a strat in-game, and I remember there's some sort of twist. Maybe it has to be in effect at the time the ship/unit is built or something...

Now fleets, they're interesting. I finally figured out what they basically do. If they break formation, the ships do their own thing - the formation strat ceases to apply. If they stay in formation, the TF will use the ship strat with the same name to tell it how to move. But this only applies to movement - not targeting weapons. If any condition causes the leader to retreat or slow down, the whole group does the same. And the oldest ship is always the leader, unfortunately.

There have been bugs with ship vs. planet combat in the past, and some may still be around.

I hope this helps. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out, please.