I've done some foum and wiki searching, but cant find any info on either of my two current questions... questions that bug me because I have no idea how they work in the game, and may be entirely missing out on something kewl. On to the questions:

1: Military Starbase "ship assist" upgrades (Example: Missile Launch Pad- ship assist (missiles) +1). how do they work? I'm guessing that maybe any ship of yours under its area of effect gets the bonus in any battles occuring in that area... with the above example meaning that a beam weapon only ship, near a starbase with missile launch pads, now has a str 1 missile attack added as well?!?! Is this right? do the bonuses stack?! WOW that would make a fortified homeworld a tough nut to crack, if every ship was under 4-5 military starbases, each one granting +1 to all attacks and defense and so on....

2: Sniper. Ive seen that word twice so far, and havent figured out what it does either.. once I saw an enemy ship whose classification was "sniper ship", and another is a starbase ship assist upgrade (like the ones above) = Sniper turrets (mass driver) +1 attack. Now does THIS mean that its a mass driver assist system, helping out ships from a distance, by adding a mass driver attack to the battle? and can this be carried on a moblie SHIP??!!?? Again; if so, then WOW!! imagine an invasion fleet escorted by many sniper ships in completely different fleets, all pumping fire into any battle that may take place... or imagine a weird setup; a large ship packed with defensive systems charging enemy fleets, only to survive enemy shots, while distant snipers do the actual shooting!

Both of these questions have conjuecture attchedto them, and maybe my guess is indeed how they work. I havent found an AI cooperative enough to test any of this out, nor is there any help hotkey for starbase upgrades, or right-click civilopedia, ir an online searchable answer..so, here I am!