See the previous 65 pages, and yes, I accept there is a counter-argument, but my 'gut' says no to lances, mostly. Thinking about this more seriously I accept that in rare circumstances an SC could have a lance. I'm just reluctant to make it anything other than a house rule, as I don't see how we can make it a fair option in the fleet list and please everyone.
@BI. You are assuming with your AB scenario vs. escorts that the 3 escorts are able to combine turret fire. What you've outlined is the worst case scenario, which is true. But if the escorts are attacked individually and therefore unable to mass turrets then the lances are no better, and the AB fair MUCH better.
I must have missed that idea of one per 750. I could go with that, as long as it wasn't a straight swap out, but cost a few extra points (maybe 5-10?) as well to emphasise their rarity.
Hence my reluctance. We could always say 1 per 1000?
Instead of +5 points, my proposal was 1 per 1k points, str3 BC trades for str2 lances, but front fire only, not l/r/f like the BC.