Just as a query, why aren't there going to be any shuttles/fighters in the game?

Well, here's my interpretation.
Shuttles are small and can't achieve high warp, therefore they must be based on larger ships. A large ship carrying a large number of smaller assult vessels brings us to the "C" word
(carrier)

Maybe that's the reason...

In any case, they are small and, basicaly, insignificant.
And honestly, in a game of galactic conquest who cares about shuttlecraft Chochrane?

tactical combat must even be handable, and with big ships in between shuttles just would slow down speed and difficult to command

maybe these litte sulobon vessels would be interesting, like a swarm and command as one ship but... as scatter said, dont overload

I think Jig said once that anything smaller than a Oberth/Defiant/B'rel/Shrike would be pointless from a battle point of view, because the ships would be too small to see!

Remember that the 'battlefield' will be around 3 times larger than anything in BOTF, so sizes and distances will matter far more ingame.

Afterall, it's pointless having a ship that is too small to see or fight!