Definitely voting no on the tactical combat for this type of game.  I really liked the way the Deadlock series and Dominions series handled combat.

Not sure how some people can't get it in their heads that tactical combat doesn't need to be advanced.  Bringing up Total War is the apex of poor analogies to those of us who actually like the idea of manipulating combat tactically.  Total War is NOT designed to be a strategy game; that was an afterthought which has received a lot more attention in Empire and onward.  Total War was built to be a tactical game that included a strategy element if you wanted something other than scripted battles (why else would you ever fight with spear militia when you could use armored sergeants instead?).  A tactical game doesn't need to be an RTS-element (that wouldn't really make sense in GalCiv) and it doesn't need to be a very large element of the game, but it should have some effect.

I would personally vote for the limited control variant of tactical combat, i.e. something on the scale of Endless Space.  Unlike some of the posters here who consider it a Rock Paper Scissors game (and I very much will dispute that point), I actually consider the idea of thinking about what I want my ships to emphasize in combat to be an important thing.  With the Endless Space setup, you have to think about what you want, what the enemy will most likely do, and if the enemy counters your strategy what the best alternative is; beating the AI's card is often a very ineffective strategy in ES compared to simply using the one with the bonus you prefer.  Its also very simple and still based on ship and fleet design over user input.

If nothing else, GalCiv3 needs two very basic options in combat: the option to retreat (which will also emphasize having FASTER ships, something I rarely cared about in GalCiv2 from a combat perspective; it also emphasizes having leftover movement points), and the option to pick priority targets (as the game's built-in targeting system can be gamed at points, such as by building large ships with minimal firepower but high defense and, say, a hyperspace booster, to prioritize that ship as a target).  Most of my other problems with combat aren't tactical in nature; wanting carriers (even just a fleet-wide life support module), minimum die rolls for defenses and weapons (really don't want a 200 shield ship to get destroyed by a ship with 40 beam damage in 1 shot), and that sort of thing.

I really hope to see something like this model you describe from birth of the federation. This was my #1 dislike in galciv2, and with my hand hovering over the purchase founders button ons team now it is my #1 reason for making the decision that would make the purchase worthwhile for me.

I do understand some are not interested in this feature, but personally an autoresolve option or auto-AI-Commander/watch mode only would seem to permit this side of view point to be satisfied.

Is there a clear answer from Stardock on some type of tactical combat thats fun to be added in for fleet battles? I really want to support this game but without such a feature I feel like galciv2 has my money already and this game wouldnt be a major step forward without something unique like tactical space battles and maybe even tactical plantery invasions though the ground combat wouldnt be a must have for me, just a neat flavour addon.

I was blinded reading all these posts. But in simple terms here are my thoughts:

It's a strategy game, not a tactical game. MOO2 was fun but tedious. But I would like to see some more effort put into land battles. GalCiv2 was strange to say the least regarding land battles. I might have soldiering 12 and the attacker has soldiering 8 and they attack with less troops yet I took more casualties. ODD.

Why not at least allow more soldiering tech like advanced armor(tanks) or some crazy something so that we have more options other than Stellar Marines. I'm all for auto resolve, but it should be possible to beat my opponent on the surface if i can't beat them in space. That creates a stalemate and time for me to rethink my current situation.

Call it rock/paper/scissors on a planetary level but think about it. Do I win by sheer number of troops like the Chinese, do I win through sheer armor like the Russians, or do I win through sheer power of air dominance like the US. The formula doesn't have to be complicated. It simply has to have some options for the players to delight on their own level of a coolness factor.

In the end it's just a game, and one I'm certainly looking forward to playing.

Fleet combat will be available in the beta, but when exactly is still unknown. Based on the tentative schedule, I expect it somewhere between late summer and fall.

If you haven't yet, take a look at the live streams. During them, the devs have talked about their plans for combat, carriers, and a lot of other things.