That does sound like it ' s working as intended as an honour system where people feel obliged not to use it ! I ' ve worked for startups myself where most didn ' t take their full holiday allowance in the early years , but as it ' s law the actual allowance still existed . <| sep |> Dammit ! Fell for it . <| sep |> And check the ship configuration of enemy fleets , and then build a counterfleet , like if they use a lot of plasma strong vs armor , weak vs . shield , then you need a ton of shields . And don ' t forget to do this with your military stations too , if you are using them . Which you should be , as they ' ve been made far more useful now . E . g . early game , your normal spaceport is very strong compared to fleets . A cheap defense platform with an FTL snare to pull the enemy into the system within range of the spaceport can decide an early war .