Its been a while since I played as Rommies, but why is it when I am cloaded I do not get the advantage of firing first again Ferengi, or anyone for that matter?

If that's the case, you probably have some ships in the fleet that are not cloaked. You only get a free turn if your entire fleet is cloaked. If not, then the enemy can fire on the ships that aren't cloaked. Your cloaked ships will remain immune during the first turn, though.

not if you have enough ships shooting, i`ve seen many a warbird go up in smoke due to sheer amount of torps i have losed off.

Ok, thats it. Must be my 2 troop tranports I have. Ok, now I can effectively wage war against the Ferengi filth.