Starsector takes inspiration from Alastair Reynolds who takes a pretty cynical and dark take on hard sci-fi. Wunderwaffen have amazing long-term impact but always have trouble with logistics and integration into conventional forces in the short-term. The cool thing about Starsector is it focuses on both - yeah the Diktat pretty boys are mostly there for show. Buuut get some of their superweapons into the hands of people who know what they're doing (us, the players!) and amazing things are going to happen. Alternatively, get the right admiral in command of some Lions Guard ships and the D-mod is actually a net win...
Grievous69, the purpose of "special modifications" that come with a spiffy paintjob is cohesion and pride. Morale, in other words. In some warmaking metagames where the dominant strategy is to make the enemy rout before your side does (anything predating modern artillery) or ideally before your side gets into bayonet range bright pretty colors and useless but intimidating flash were all the rage.
There's plenty of examples where brightly dressed elite troops had their bluff called. The result consists of their shell-shocked opponents wandering through the wreckage, looting dead bodies, poking and prodding the best equipment the enemy had, and going "huh, so it was all just for looks all along?" It's always has been.
Unless of course your engineers are drooling babies and they just beat up ships with hammers.
Trick to understanding the modern bureaucratic workforce is that junior employees think engineers are wizards who can do no wrong. Mid-level employees think engineers are drooling babies beating stuff up with hammers. Senior employees agree, but try to get stuff done anyway.
It's pretty amazing to see an Alastair-tier blackpill on brightly colored pretty boys roll through the community. Generated some strong responses.