Help With First Mission

Okay - I finally got around to firing up the game again. I play intermittently, so I can't always keep things straight. Here is my problem:

I am tasked to disrupt the alliance between the Dread Lords and the other alliance (I can't reacall which it was). I destroyed the other faction, but I just cannot beat the Dread Lords. I finally beat one of their ships after sending a few waves of my paltry fighters after them. The only thing left on their planet is a starbase and one other building. They have like one ship left in orbit, and I can't seem to beat it!

I know the tactic is to develop a ship to beat it, but I have no idea what defenses work agains what sheilds, and as result I don't know where to focus my research. The Dread Lord ship has about 14 pts worth of shields, 13 HP, and Hell Missiles for what I do believe are good for 25 pts of damage - the info screen on the ship states "+25." Once I beat that ship, I have a feeling what invading will be a tough go.I do have spies on the planet.

Here are my questions:

1. How to tell what weapons can beat which ships?

2. What is the best tactic to defeat the lone Dread Lord ship (yeah, I know, I am lame.)

3. Was militarily defeating the other races, and/or the Dread Lords the only way to win?

I know these are very basic questions and problems, but I am quite new. If I can manage to play through and win a few simple scenarios/missions such as this, I can learn some of the nuances and concepts. I do have other questions, but I want to get through this first.

Muddying the waters is my recent purchase of Sins of A Solar Empire! Thanks for any advice.

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Laser = Shields

Railguns = Armor

Missles = Pt. Def.

Match the icon colors and use weapons that the DL's don't have Def for.

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Defenses are effective as well. Opponents generally specialize in one line of weapons tech. Look at your enemy's ships to see what weapons they are carrying. Build ships with defenses against those weapons. For example, if you see enemy ships with guns (red), defend with armor (also red). If you see ships with beam weapons (blue), defend with shields (also blue). Ship battle has an element of randomness. The "luck" ability will improve the chances of you getting a lucky strike. There are occasions where a weaker ship can kill a stronger ship if you get a good roll of the dice. It can go the other way too.

Most people play the game in sandbox mode. The campaigns are more of a side track. I've played the campaigns very little and don't find them all that interesting. It's actually better to learn the game in sandbox mode. Click on the New Game button instead of the Campaign button.

Sins of a Solar Empire is a great game, I've enjoyed it a lot as well. It think it's much easier to pick up and run with than GC2. The game is not as complex especially when comparing to Twilight of the Arnor.

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