Ah, well we tend to observe precedents with regards to maximum potential strength for any given hardpoint on any given hull type. For example, the Dictator, Mars and Devastation all have one launch bay hardpoint each side and they can only send out 2 AC from each. This is as good as it gets for AC. The Emperor and Oberon replicate this achievement, but the Styx falls to 1.5 AC per hardpoint and the grand cruisers drop to just the 1 AC per hardpoint.
The Despoiler manages to stuff this up (as, consequently, do the Despoiler derivatives) by having, nominally, 4 AC per hardpoint. However, while the Despoiler has double the AC it should per bay it also has half the WB strength it should given the number of hardpoints. So this looks like a simple problem of misrepresentation. So a Despoiler should be modelled with 2 launch bay hardpoints and 1 WB hardpoint per side to better reflect its stats. Of course, there is still the issue of the massive prow launch bay which is not reflected in the stats and this really takes the ship beyond a simple fix of swapping a WB hardpoint for a launch bay. Hence the reason why we've come up with alternate stats for the Despoiler model. Basically the broadside WBs were increased to match the model layout (to str 10), the broadside bays were reduced to bring it in-line with all the other ships and instead of prow lances or torps it was given a str 4 launch bay.
An alternative to using these stats would be to use the original stats but convert the prow. I have a Despoiler with a Repulsive prow (torp Despoiler) and another one with the prow launch bay "closed" (to represent the lance version) as well as a stock Despoiler model (to represent the forum adjusted profile).
