(FT) when FT3? Armor vs shields?

Howdy.	I'm new to the list and new to the FT game having played 
two battles with stuff from the FB.  The players want a campaign 
so I volunteered to come up with some rules and referee it.  
I've been working on some sort of sf campaign for years and tried 
a couple SFB ones.  I don't have any books yet but with FT3 being 
promised(?) soon I was wondering if any release date has been 
announced?

I loved Traveller for many years, designed many ships throughout 
all of Trav's incarnations (except T4), and really liked TCS.  I 
also like Imperium and Dark Nebula and printed out the FT 
conversion rules.  For my campaign I'm borrowing from these and 
Fifth Frontier War: warp lines and weekly travel times (easier 
on the bookkeeping), plotting in advance, admirals with 
plotting factors and tactical skill (for initiative roll only), 
and simple economics (for the first campaign anyway): primary 
world worth 100 pts, secondary world worth 20 pts.  The basis
of the campaign is a civil war after the emperor is assassinated
so that all the players, being provincial leaders, are of equal 
tech and equal forces.	The one who controls at least 50% of
the populous (primary=10, secondary=2) is the winner and next
emperor.

Both FT battles I've been in have seen the armored ships win
and the screen ships lose.  People seem to prefer armor.  Anyone
done any analysis of armor vs screens?	I was thinking of
adding a Meson battery as another weapon: size of class 3 (A)
but damage as class 2 (B) and it ignores armor.  This a fair
weapon?

Later,
Glen