How many ship designs do you keep saved from game to game? It seems like it would get kind of hard to keep track of designs for every possible attack and defense and upgrade them all, but it could be possible I guess.

Also, what is a good strategy for building ships? Currently I put on a decent amount of defense, about a 3:2 or 3:1 ratio early on of attack to defense. Is this overdoing it, especially considering I've heard defense is not all it's cracked up to be?

Basically, what are some good strategies for building ships, more in terms of balance between weapons and defense.

One last thing, why is it so ridiculously expensive to upgrade ships? I can't afford to upgrade my entire fleet multiple times usually, so they end up scrapped so I don't have to pay maintenance, and then my military rating takes a hit. Seems like upgrading them should be a lot more reasonably priced.