It is in my strong opinion, that it is indeed an important thing to have repairs in the game. There are times in games like Rebellion, when I send a fleet thats not quite big enough to a battle, but am able to severely damage the majority of their fleet. I always keep two or three of these fleets in each system, and if that happens, then it wouldn't be too difficult to send a second of those fleets in to take out the severely crippled fleet. This makes things much more exciting, and can turn the tide of the game from one side to the other. With instant repairs, there is no point in even trying to do anything when you are doomed to lose. You may as well just alt-tab and let the battle auto-resolve. On the other hand, if there were repairs, you could aim to take out the shield Generator at least on each ship.. Pop the hangers to make your next fleet have an easier time of it. It opens up the game to a whole new level of strategy. Do you destroy one ship or pick apart 5-6 of them?