Zel, have it however you want, but SCs are pitifully weak against escorts now. The str 2 lance swap would be a viable solution. SC cannot outmanuver escorts, so they cannot have them always closing. This means that in most circumstances, they will only ever be firepower 2. thawks are NOT the all powerful escort slayers they used to be, and the SC's firepower against escorts needs to be rebalanced to reflect this. A lance is less useful against cap ships then a BC is, due to the gunnery table and BC crit rules, whereas a lance is equally effective against both.
You really need to define what an Escort slayer is because every race was affected by the new rules of escorts being more survivable vs H&R attacks. Even then I don't see a lot of races with access to a lot of crit generating attacks from one ship. The SC has:
1. The BC shot supported by the WB shot;
2. TH attacking as ABs only instead of a normal crit it is a 3+ attack;
3. Crits from H&R attacks via teleporting; and
4. Crits from Boarding Actions if the SC wants to do it.
I don't see how getting a Str 2 lance swap, esp the one LS proposes where it is Front Arc only and most likely proposition given that it was the original proposal from the HA, would be a more viable outcome than the one above given that now, the broadsides would suck against escorts as there is no more mutual support from the weapons. What's that going to do? At best kill ONE escort in one turn and that's assuming it fails it's BFI roll. And you can't do that with the stuff above esp with the WBs and BCs supporting each other and TH support to boot?
A Lunar would have a hard time against escorts.
A Gothic would fare better but SCs aren't getting 4 lances that's for sure.
A Dictator would have problems even with bombers.
A Tyrant would have problems.
A Dominator would have problems.
A Lance Dauntless would almost fare as well as a Gothic but still only 1 escort as a sure kill.
A Torp Dauntless would far less than a Lance Dauntless.
A Murder would have a hard time against escorts but will fair well on the approach because of the 60 cm lances. It will still have problems though.
A Carnage might be better but still would have a problem with column shifts unless within 30 cm at which point it will get good chances in one arc.
A Slaughter will perform better than the Murder and Carnage IMHO but it will still have problems.
A Devastation is probably the best bet here for Chos with long range lance AND bomber OR AB support.
Terror Ships might far better but still has problems.
Same with a Kill Krooza.
The Hero and the Merchant would have similar difficulties and maybe unique problems of their own.
Eldar (both flavors) and Necron probably are the best Escort hunters.
Pitifully weak? Comparing the SCs to the above ships, I don't see it as pitifully weak. Are you really sure you're doing the right stuff? However, if you really want to defend against escorts, then best advice is to bring your own escorts. Nothing stopping you there.
I don't even think the Escort argument is a serious argument because assuming you do get lances on the SC, are you seriously telling me you're going to waste the lance shots on escorts instead of using them to help kill capital ships and just let your escorts handle the enemy escorts?
Lastly, your battle report so far is you still attacking an SM fleet. Next time play the SM fleet.