WHY? must I have a S.B. or S.S. to attack and they don't?

Well they probably have +range tech/trait, or they have a starbase/system that you're unaware of outside of your sensor range.

~SDC~

MM77,

As Sho says, range is extremely important. It allows you to access entire sectors you normally would be closed off from. There are two ways to increase it: (a) in your skill picks, you can choose to increase range by +1; (b) certain ships have greater ranges than others. For example, this is the greatest difference between a Frigate and a BattleHammer. (Both are identical except for HP's and Range.)

A very good strategy is to spend the points on increased range and build BattleHammers as your first Fleet (I am indebted to Horatio for pointing this out). You can take contested sectors without too much trouble, and force an AI Empire into surrender, which benefits you immensely mid-game on a large/huge map.

~SDC~

I picked +range in my starting picks and compared my starting colony ship and survey ship with and without and saw no difference. Is this a positive +1 to range?

Thank you gang,I'll give it a shot.

Toaddog, I have the same problem.

The starting Range bonus pick is kinda quirky (it actually seems to be +10% range instead of +1 range right now). In game bonuses, from techs and such, do work properly though.

~SDC~