Godammit, do these units have any kind of common sense? When I say retreat, I mean retreat NOW. Not after you finish fighting the enemies, but now. And when I say stay put, I mean stay put until I give my next order. Not go wandering off by yourself when an enemy comes near. It's even more annoying when my ranged units try to fight off 50 enemies by themselves while my melee units fall back or stay put.
It seems like the only way to prevent some dumbass from going Leeroy Jenkins by themselves is to reissue the retreat/stay put command every 2 seconds, and even that's not foolproof. And it really takes time and attention away from doing more useful things, like casting spells or assessing the battle situation.
I don't like how red bubbles don't serve any purpose other than aesthetics. They just make your ship a bigger target. Likewise, a higher class makes your ship move slower and easier to hit, so while it's a little more durable you'll also take far more damage in the long run. The best ship right now is just stacking a bunch of guns extremely close to the center. If red bubbles added durability then there's actually a reason to use them.
Good game, good concept, but it could definitely use some refining.