Cool! I'm glad you both tried it, and liked it!
Obviously I'm still calibrating the difficulty using .33 'Hornet's Nest' as a benchmark ...
I found the difficulty was in keeping the Hammerhead alive, rather than say, successfully winning the battle. First few times I played I got jumped by the cleats out of nowhere, torpedoes smashing in to my broadside and sending my surprised corpse spinning in to space. I'm glad it wasn't just me!
I wasn't sure though if it was down to my own lack of skill in the game, and thought of swapping the enforcer out for a lasher. Maybe it will stay as it is and I'll try and ramp the difficulty up for the next mission ...
And on the spikes Interceptor vs. Fighter issue, they were originally designed to be Interceptors, as I initially gave them a pair of vulcans. This was great when they were fighting talons (also the pesky wasps), and useful for chipping in to a ship with battered armor. Other than that, they didn't quite have the 'kick' I was going for. They get battered by broadswords, for instance ('cos of the swarmers against armor) and I would have liked that to be more of a 50/50 affair.
So I gave them a cannon, and they can still destroy talons fairly well even with a single vulcan, plus the versatility of this longer range gun. But I suppose this has then turned them in to more of a fighter role. The behaviour sounds more appropriate and I'll try it out.
All in all, it's a fantastic game to mod with, the ships you create really do come to life - any decisions you make (as a 'designer') in terms of armor vs. weapons vs. manouvreability vs. flux etc. really translate so well to the actual field of battle ... it's just really rewarding. And it's so cool to see the AI work so well with it all!
Now I just need to dream up a concept for a 'sub-capital' ship and a 'destroyer' for the Junk Pirates ... and possibly a better name!