So, I dusted off the old AI Battles mod and previously used variants, along with the fleet files I ran back in August, and did another round of Falcons vs Eagles, this time assuming a 17 DP price point for the Eagle, and a 700 base flux dissipation.
Core fleet:
Conquest (Elite variant)
2 Gryphons (1 Hypervelocity Driver, 1 Hurricane, 2 Harpoon Pods, 3 Sabot, 3 Vulcans, ITU, ECCM, 14 vents, 14 caps)
5 Centurions (Assault variant with missiles swapped to Harpoons)
The core fleet was combined with either:
5 Eagles (3 Heavy Autocannons, 1 Ion Beam, 2 Heavy Burst Laser, 2 PD Laser, 2 Swarmer, ITU, Stabilized Shield, 30 Vents, 23 Caps)
or
6 Falcons (2 Heavy Autocannons, 1 Ion Beam, 1 Heavy Burst Laser, 2 PD Laser, 2 Swarmer, ITU, 30 Vents, 23 Caps)
and sent against each other in the AI Battles (version 13) mod. All personalities set to aggressive. 5*17 = 85 DP versus 6*14=84 DP, so nominally 185 DP vs 184 DP.
Yes, these aren't the best fits, but since it's almost a mirror match it probably not an issue, and along the lines I was asked to run back in August.
Results were:
Eagles won (2 Eagle, 2 Gryphons, 5 Centurions lost)
Eagles won (no losses)
Falcons won (4 Falcons, 2 Centurions lost)
Falcons won (1 Falcon, 1 Centurion lost)
That looks like AI piloting variation to me, which is a good sign. At least in a full fleet context, 17 DP looks like it would work. Probably should play around with some other cruisers and fits. 18 DP might be OK as well, especially when comparing to something like a Champion with less universally effective large missile options. But 17 DP looks to be in the ballpark to me.
At that point, what that 30 speed loss is getting you is about 20% more flux dissipation and 25% more guns over Falcons. Still doesn't make we want to pilot them early game because of the speed, but assuming a proportional drop in credit cost, I could at least see picking them up as a 3rd or 4th cruiser or something.