Cool as these ships look, this entire mod feels only worth it for the bonus stuff it applies, because the actual faction is an obnoxiously weak, nicheless mess that is effectively free money whenever I feel like raiding. After playing with them for a while, I genuinely feel like these ships were designed from the ground up to force losses during combat, because they are utterly impossible to sustain in any degree. I can reliably take on fleets of them two or three times my own size, knowing full well they have zero ability to survive anything more frightening than a stiff breeze. The only noteworthy "advantage" I've seen yet is that some of their heavier ships takes years to kill. Which is no real solace, since they spend the entire time flared out, guns disabled, just watching the hull bar drain steadily.
It's hilariously stupid how hard countered they are by just mixing in a few salamanders and watching their entire fleet spend the fight spinning.