Best ares story? That'll take some thinking... None of my battles ever last long enough to be turned into tall tales. I could share some of my brillaint strategic insights, I suppose.
Interesting Salrilian Tactics, 101.
As almost any self respecting Ares player knows, the Salrilian carrier is a mighty beast. Half of its power is its t bolt space thingie, of course, but the other half is often ignored: The fighters. Sal fighters are mighty, and very confusing. Many people insist on attacking quickly and through hyperspace, and hence miss half the power of their ship, releasing fighters on slowdown.
To use a salrilian carrier effectively, you really need a transport. Build the transport, send it to your enemy planet. Build a fleet of cloaked ships, have them escort it. Then build a carrier. It's going to be far enough away to warp right to the transport, but a salrilian carrier is actually faster than a transport when it's going full speed. Release all its fighters with the "special weapon" order, and then just wait for your death fleet to reach your enemy's planet. With extrodinary luck, you might just end up capturing his planet, but if not its tough to fight when you keep bumping into fighters you can barely see while being shot at by ships you can't.
Now, could I have that merit selection cola?