[Siirenias]

I have a few...they've probably all been proposed a dozen times, if only for the gargantuan size of the thread vrs. probability.

System blockades: You know how you can blockade a planet? Well...commerce can't really flow if an enemy power is blockading the warp points. Ships and space installations would have to rely on locally industry and space ports, or a variation on the concept. This could also allow for certain fleet units to remain in local logistics, which would make finding out about them harder for intelligence.

Speaking of intel...privateering and anti-piracy. For privateers, you devote resources as well as intel points to disrupt commerce, and a simple probability "dice roll" can decide if tonnage is destroyed or claimed as assets to the empire.

Anti-piracy would require devoting light units, up to maybe heavy or standard cruisers, to the task, along with intel points. This is arguably more cost effective, because you could take ancient mothballed escorts and frigates from your empire's infancy to this sort of thing. A branching on this would be devoting light units for system customs or escort duty. You could also opt to construct Q-ships for piracy deterrant.

Data-links are a tactical sort of hybrid like the US Navy's Aegis, allowing the captain of one ship to see an engagement from the point of view from any other. If you have a flagship sporting a datalink component, then the ships in your fleet unit acquire the experience of the most experienced crew in the unit. Also, datalink-tied point defense would offer much hightened reflex, accuracy, and, through combined sensor nets, possibly even range bonuses vrs. less sophisticated seekers.

Fleet formations. Making formations based on divisions within established fleets would be very useful. Also, to be able to detach these...detachments and retain their detachment experience would be quite useful. This would allow another aspect of experience bonuses. Instead of direct bonuses, fleet xp is a bonus multiplier for detachments. If you have two detachments operating together fromt he same, seasoned fleet, you could maybe get a multiplier of 5-10% for fleet xp (that's an additional 1-2% as far as bonuses are concerned), and it doubles with every fleet detachment combined with the others. A detachment would be the size of a squadron, meaning at least 2 and at most 6. Since the bonuses are pretty small for infantile navies, combining two undersizerd squadrons into a 4-5 ship squadron would provide better bonuses than to attempt to abuse the thing with 3 undersized squadrons working in concert.

Divisions or detachments or squadrons, however you wnat to look at it, allows you to work with multiple pre-formed formations in one fleet unit, able to work together and provide mutual bonuses and point defense. It also allows you to contol screening squadrons independent of the capital ships, and allows you to use cruiser squadrons to act as heralds and cavalry for the heavy players.

EDIT: Also, it would be neat to provide an emperor the option of constructing warp point-side installations to provide commerce control. This would directly effect commerce for neighbors who are enemies, and the opponent has taken and regulated a system in the shortest distance route to the biggest commercial ally. Also, this would allow for monumental warp point raids, like I try to emulate by building starbases on warp points. Of course, making these things customisable to a degree would be good. Have it as a financial option for a system under total control to be funded by either (as an option) local control or from a specific system, or from the pooled Imperial resources. You give it an option of installations, fighter bases, commerce centers and light/heavy garrisons which can be either custom jobs like what you can do in the ship design windows, or standard units, depending on how interested you are in it. Customs stations around planets and warp points would serve as bases for piracy and anti-piracy operations, as well as a way to institute tarrifs for foreign merchantmen passing through the system to a destination beyond the system. In the actual window you would order one of these warp point defense/commerse installations would provide a choice of how much to put into the project every tenth of a year, and what part of the warp point installation to build first.