Since like a week ago or so when the beta-test that added the SuperCaps.

Units bombing planets most of the time do not shoot at anything else. Turrets most of the time go idle.

When there are other hostile things in the grav well, it seems most civ targets (not sure if turrets etc as well) do not get targeted at all. You need to directly attack the civ buildings to be targeted at all. Rather weird - new behavior. This used to happen year/s ago as well. Reintroduced, or even in worse state than (way) before.

When units in a fleet (?) are ordered to move in a grav well from another one, (that is, me assaulting enemy grav well) and do not get direct orders, it seems sometimes units want to keep some formation, or something.

Let me explain the situation:

I did that as described above, then I noticed my Harckas were floating in the height all over the place, trying to chase Fighters (?!) Or try keep the formation with the rest of the ships (not sure either, not as likely, the rest of the formation did not float above of blow the 'plane') I understood that when moving all ships in a grav well, they will auto-engage and not keep repositioning without seeking targets they can't engage. (Harcka with 250 pen guns cant shoot at fighters/bombers, but were actively trying to get close to them)

Only when given order to stop, did their constant green orders to position, reposition, actually stop and start actively chasing targets they can engage.

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Another theme

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I was thinking a bit regarding Point defense ... that targets all fighters, bombers and missiles.

PD is 0 penetration.

then you have light guns with 100 penetration that are weak versus everything except say light frigates (100 durability)

Allowing the lightest of guns, to engage fighters, bombers, while PD is still the only able to engage all the targets, makes the TEC Battlecruiser that you said has PD in the press PR article, to actually have something of a PD. (targeting heavy cruise missiles ??? not everybody has them, - if you allow to target cruise missiles, why not shoot at other missiles as well then where is the limit of targets to engage then, or would in this case, be a 100 pen class weapon just a heavy version of a PD)

Normal 'combatants' with medium weapons with 200 pen would not get that, or they would chase all the bombers and so on, all the time, just like I mentioned the Harckas to be attempting.

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Widening the context

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However, it could be like you have with Ragnarov, I think, Ragnar's Gauss guns are able to shoot corvettes. Without gausses ? Ragnar is completely useless vs corvettes because of that. Those 200 pen FEW puny low dps don't do anything.

Gausses on a Kol ? They ignore corvettes ! Is that a bit much, when a Ragnar fires away so much more ? Yes ! What a double standard ! Yes !

What prevents you from shooting at a small plane with a gargantuan gun apart from costs ? (in war costs play a role and are not thrown out of airlocks) Hopefully your projectile and gun wear will not be more expensive than the target youre trying to hit.

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Possible solution/s

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RNG ? Adding RNG ???! 

Big guns shoot fewer projectiles. Perhaps, set the size to be durability but inverse.

You can more readily hit a larger target. (Durability=size 1000= target size 1100 or 11)

RNG is very problematic the lower percentages you get, you get 400 tries and suddenly 4 hits in a row with 1% hit probability.

To get around the hit probability not being probable, but have certain outcomes, you have mechanics that were in use in infamous Dawn of War 3. The criticals, instead of a random RNG, you had Guaranteed Critical (in our case, a guaranteed hit among a certain number of Guaranteed Misses)

An Increased Chance to Hit would reduce the number of Guaranteed Misses, Decreased Hit chance would increase the number of the guaranteed misses.

Option B

Because otherwise, removing hit probabilities would result in increased or decreased damage based on hit chance. Hit chance 50? Translate that to each hit doing 50% damage without this system.

Is target closer, getting bigger ? Hit Chance Increases, dps increases. The hit chance in this case simply butchered into an overall damage modifier overall.

However I think the guaranteed fails and guaranteed hits are doing the same exact thing, without inconsistency.

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low penetration weapons have issues of sorts

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In Soase 2  PD counters missiles, something impossible in Soase 1. A great technical achievement imo.

I think a great missed opportunity is 'air' defense beyond the gun range.

But I want to keep some things in a perspective. PD has normally a great output of projectiles. Amount of damage on unprotected target in a unit of time will be greater than bigger weapons. A bolt action rifle versus a full-auto machinegun. But a machine gun is not going to penetrate heavy concrete fortifications.

What you bring ? A 100 mm ? 150 ? 170 ? 210 ? 305 ? 420 mm? 

I am getting into the weight of projectiles fired. Imagine, a sustained-fire maxim-like gun not overheating because of steady cooling. You can have 10 of these like say Maxim guns were on ships at first. So, a Maxim, say one cartridge, what does it do ?

say 7,62x54r

0,011 kg bullet, roughly 800 m/s muzzle V.

12,7x99 BMG (1 inch = 25,4 mm or 2,54 cm) 0.50 inch= 12,7 mm

0,045 kg (0,045kg) 900 m/s 1,1 m barrel length.

soviet 12,7x108

0,055 kg  800 m/s(some up to 60g) 1 m barrel,

14,5x114

0,06 kg 1000m/s (not counting new sabot ammo developments for this cartridge, though I could)

20x139

0,12 kg 1045 m/s sabot 0,108 kg 1150 m/s

23x115

0,175 kg 740m/s (no AP obviously)

23x152

(Il-2) 0,187 kg 975 m/s

ZU-23 roughly the same tho different, some made saboted rounds for it, higher muzzle V less projectile weight

25x137

0,13 kg 1445 m/s

0,18 kg 1100 m/s

(then ww2 Soviet 25,4x218SR) 0,28 kg 910 m/s (!) Plenty more 25 mm like that kbb 25x184, higher pressure means older cheaper to make casings were larger.

30x165

0,389 kg 960 m/s,                              0,4 kg / 970 m/s                           0,235 kg/1260 m/s

30x173

0,362 kg 1080 m/s                          0,372 kg / 1450 m/s (saboted, meaning actual projectile is lighter than stated)

30x211

0,435 kg / 1000 m/s

35 x 228

0,55 kg/ 1175 m/s       0,375 kg/1440 m/s                       new (expensive and few ) 0,75kg/1050 m/s

40x365R

0,96 kg 1005m/s

going to contemporary field gun/tank guns which do weigh tonnes

120x570mmR

take these as disinfo and something of wishful thinking

5kg /1780 m/s (note the very rounded 'weights')  11-15 kg / 1100-1400m/s 19 kg 950-1100 m/s

125 mm (no hard casing) depends on gun generation etc, some go at 2050 m/s, weight thrown seems heavier than 5 kg.

he-frag is  23 kg, HEAT ones tend to be lighter etc.

still, these weights are puny, compared to say 155 mm standard which are thrown using powder bags (no, not white powder, not to be sent to 'a' Bank street)

modern ones from long barrels using very high pressures reach something like 900 m/s, (proper info sites became unavailable somehow...or it could be 980 I dont remember now) the weight is up to 50 kg. And it has continuous propulsion, fox max range using gas generator, and or rocket assist. HE filler is up to 10 kg. It is bigger caliber so to outrange this thing, you go for a wider longer barrel.

for reference 203 mm 2S7 throws 103/110 kg at 960 m/s.

then there were 210 mm doing 135 kg ww2 era use, (as K39 and variants) 800-860 m/s (in Nahtzee use), as Br-17 on Soviet side.(800 m/s)

to be continued. I want to fill up bigger calibers. though I guess it is almost enough to give a properly good picture, picturing issues with large weapons and why they are unwieldy, but also reasons to make them in the first place.

I think it is a good topic and these 'spreadsheets' of mine are a good illustration in engaging your imagination. It took me hours compiling this stuff but it is seriously late in the morning so will stop here for now.

Cheers and thanks for reading.