Starbase/Shipyard Total defense (including Ships in orbit)

Well the ships defending the starbase always fight their own battle when attacked. Only if the defending ships are defeated, will the starbase get involved.

Its effectively a 'separate' engagement.

So normally, my focus is on the defending ships only, and to me, the starbase is irrelevant -  except for the purpose of increased logistics.

Sometimes i will have 'junk' ships defending a starbase, in which case i do not really care about the ships and my main focus will be on the starbase combat phase. The junk ships are mainly for the purpose of diplomacy and will eventually be sold or upgraded at some point.

A major flaw in the combat system, IMO. The defending ships should never attack an incoming fleet beyond the umbrella of the station's weapons. That's just damn stupidly suicidal.

There are two basic approaches to defending a fortress.  One is to keep your forces inside the fortress and defend.  Another is to go out from the fortress, then confront and eliminate invading forces. Both approaches have been used to great effect throughout history.  Both approaches have failed miserably throughout history. Whether either approach is flawed is something that is more dependent on individual situations than anything else.  In this situation, the armament of the starbase itself seems meaningless to me compared to the armament of my defending ships, except for the very beginning of the game.  Therefore, hunkering down within the fortress or within starbase range has no real value in this case. The armament of the starbase is primarily a pirate defense as far as I am concerned, not a real military asset.

No, actually throughout history the appropriate comparison would be naval warfare and ports, not land combat. And how often do naval forces leave well defended ports to attack a superior enemy beyond the range of the shore batteries? How often? Name one incidence of that occurring? Besides when there was a need to break out for reasons beyond the need to defend the port?

Its easy changed in the BattleTactics.xml

Sir Francis Drake, and the spanish armada.

When the Americans attacked the phillipines during the spanish American war.

When the Americans attacked Tripoli.