If he chooses not to research those fusion drives, I can get 6 init. Not too bad - enough to beat his intys, but I'm SOL on his starbases still. You're right anyway, the hulls are the best option for sure, no matter what type of ship I go with.
EDIT
To answer your other question
He could build a SB or inty to unpin the dreads, but nobody is attacking (with expectation of winning) the GC, so it means he has to waste one of his few remaining moves to build some ships in a not-so-useful hex instead of building them where it counts.
This post has been edited by cerveza_fiesta: 20 June 2014 - 03:47 PM