Late-game

From VoidWiki

Late-game can be tied to the advent of Mark 3 Assault fleets. This brings the last significant change to general combat tactics, as the heavy armor of these advanced assault ships makes them resistent to enemy laser fire. Cheap fighter swarms are no longer sufficient to repell an invasion fleet.

Furthermore, assault fleets can now outrun enemy capital ships. You will need either fast plasma-armed ships or, more common, hordes of Wasp flying bombs.