How do you keep track of ships during war?

i find it a problem too. what i use is the "show autopilot" option on the minimap, which at least gives me an idea how many ships i have on the way to the battle scene. it doesnt help too much, but it does kinda give me an idea when reinforcements will arive, and from where they are coming from.

i still have trouble keeping track of all the ships however.

~SDC~

One nice feature would be a button you would hit that would tell all autopiloted ships that they should go to manual. One might hit this switch when one's war with the Drengins ended and the war with the Torians begins. Otherwise, you have to do it Mr. TheTaco's way, which is rather tedious.

I have trouble keeping track of all the enemies ships! Like nasty mosquitos all over the place - maybe I'm using a wrong view?

Personally, I don't bother keeping track of enemies. I just make sure that my systems is well-defended enough from both the front, and flanks. The only thing that would snag my attention is a large quantity of Excaliburs being thrown into the front-line.

If by chance I leave a flank undefended, I will put a bit more focus into protecting it when I see an enemy corvette critically damage a resource starbase. (The attacking ship appeared to have been given by an AI player - there was no chance the ship could sneak up in that fashion. )

Don't underestimate the importance of battlefield intelligence. Keep scout ships or probes along the perimeter to give you an early warning of when hostiles are coming your way. They will be the first things to die when the shooting starts, so if you can control the start of the war, either pull them in or protect them. Scouts on the perimeter are nice because one can use them as decoys and cause them to be chased around the screen, all while still watching the enemy.

My personal strategy is to have spy ships posted on guard near the important alien systems and to have some other ships to keep track of important resource starbases in case I need to plot a strike on one. Obviously, Eyes of the Universe is a very important wonder for me to build. Being able to see the fools coming from a sector away is far more helpful because I can do it with fewer ships. Just be warned that the Eyes only expand ship and starbase scouting ranges. Planets are still pretty blind.