There is a single change which I would LOVE to be implemented with Crusade, which will give the biggest change to gameplay for the better:
Nebulae (nebulas?) should block sensor line of sight (as they would in the real world). Why?
- Introduce meaningful terrain to the map. A much needed change to the current bland galaxies where the terrain features are pretty meaningless.
- Ability to sneak fleets around the map - allows for guerrilla warfare and surprise attacks from multiple fronts.
- Meaningful scouting and positioning of observation ships/stations. In order to get visibility around your local nebulae, you will need to position dedicated ships and/or stations in strategic positions (and not just x number of tiles away from the previous one).
- Introduce meaningful strategic denying of adversary assets - Destroy one of the aforementioned stations and create a large blind spot in your opponents intelligence.
I can't stress enough how much added gameplay would be introduced by making this change! It would be awesome! 