Okay, on the “make a shield that will help the oh-so-giant Empire ships survive fighter attacks” subject - the most common suggestion of this type so far seems to be a special shield that fighters flat out cannot pass.
But here’s another thought - how about a medium-powered shield that also affects any ship that passes through it with an EMP shot? One that’s strong enough to provide a pretty good chance of knocking out fighters, but can also put the whammy on capital ships?
I see this as a shield that only affects a ship once each time the shield bubble is crossed (to prevent locking down enemy ships that are violating your ships’ personal space), which means it would tend to be most effective as a fighter deterrent.
How about a device that constantly sends out EMP pulses that only affect fighters (due to their low EM shielding) it could pulse every few seconds and knock out fighters engines and weapons for the next second 
Just a thought
I like it.
Actually, I really like the thought of giving each race something as cool as the Tribe repair system or the Order radgun. Maybe part of the next expansion? A micro-expansion in its own right? Call it Awesome Weapons of the Stock Races or somesuch. >.>
Somehow, Cliff, when you say “just a thought” I always seem to hear “stop spoiling the neat stuff I’m working on”.
But seriously, that would be another cool variant on the theme. I was just thinking shields because Empire seems to suffer from fighter swarms the worst; the big shield bubbles do seem to pretty much negate their racial bonus against the little buggers.
i think bombers have enough trouble without adding another weapon to kill them off!
Utterly impenetrable would be overpowered, but pulses temporarily deactivating them would be awesome!
Nothing wrong with bombers (which in my mind equal ‘torpedo fighters’).
It’s those pesky laser fighters that can fly full circles under my massive Imperial shield bubbles. 
they’re way too slow! Any map with a single enemy cruiser defense laser can take them all out. and their min/max range is too close together meaning there is a VERY limited firing arc.
they’re supposed to…hence the 12 pt tracking frigate anti-fighter missile launcher.