Some standard rules with Kzintis are:
Have patience. 90% of your drones will never do damage, you have limited Ph-1s, and the Disruptor is fast firing not hard hitting. Whatever you do, you will not be winning quickly (unless your opponent makes a mistake)
Do not approach any closer than range 15. The disruptor has the same stats at range 9 that it does at range 15. There is no need to get any closer to overload range than range 15.
You don't have a lot of Ph-1s, save them for good targets. Don't fire them during the saber dance, save them for capitalizing on any opponent mistakes (turns weak/down shield toward you, uses up all his power, etc.)
Drones are your main weapon and don't require energy. Speed 24 is easier to accomplish then the other races.
With those things in mind, there are four basic approaches (plenty of advanced ones, though
). They are CHAARGE!, Saber Dance, Shallow Saber Dance, and WaggleCHAARGE! is pretty straightfoward, fire your drones and follow them in. Fairly obvious thing to do, and probably 50/50 chance of coming off better than your opponent. You can also start of with a CHAARGE! and turn it into a Saber Dance
Saber Dance is very well known. Approach at an angle to range 15 with the target in the LF or RF arc (not straight ahead!). Fire disruptors, launch drones, and turn away. I prefer to launch drones at this point to encourage my opponent to turn away and help me increase the range. If it's the end of the turn and the Fed's Phot will be loaded next turn, I'll follow the first launch with more drones on Imp 1 if the Fed didn't turn away (and then "Run Away! Run Away!").
Shallow Saber Dance is for opponents who are more manueverable. Approach at a very shallow angle to range 15 with the target in the L or R arcs. Fire disruptors (usually only half can fire into the L or R arc), fire drones, turn away. Basically, just a modified Saber Dance that helps you turn away easier. Down side is that you only fire half your disruptors.
The Waggle is for firing while running away. Useful against Plasma races and a Fed with loaded torpedoes. With your opponent behind you, turn left, (he'll be in the L arc now) fire disruptors. Turn right, and fire disruptors. Wash, rinse, repeat. You can turn right or left first (You're basically waggling the back of your ship at him). At speed 24, your opponent won't be able to make up a lot of ground, and after you fire, you can launch drones to get him to help open the range again. If you have the power, you can also accelerate to open the range. Downside is that you let your opponent get closer, you're not doing as much damage in a single salvo, and your opponent can use more reinforcement. Of course, your opponent will run out of energy and then you have all sorts of options. Of course, depending on the target's location, you might not be able to get him into both side arcs. In that case, give him a shot from one side and then turn away from him.
These can all be combined together. For example, against a Plasma race, you can start out with a CHAARGE, turn it into a Saber Dance by the time you reach range 15, Waggle until he fires off his plasma, wash, rinse, repeat.
Lastly, if your opponent loads all his weapons as overloads, have a field day with him. Depending on how stubborn he is, he could pay holding costs for a long time trying to get into overload range while you tease him at range 15. While he's paying holding costs, he's not firing. I had a Fed hold overloaded torpedoes for 4 turns before finally discharging them. That's 3 firing opportunities he missed (when he first loaded them, 2 turns later, and on the turn he discharged them to start loading standard torps). While he was doing that, I hit him 6 times (twice during load and 4 times while he was holding them). He didn't last much longer.
