I actually think that there should be a different style of limitation on the VD than how the void stalker is done in Corsairs. The Corsairs only have 1 restricted ship and therefore the 1000 point style works fine for them
However craftworlds have 2 restricted ships, and the dragonship is shown to have limitations similar to that of IN/Chaos. I think that it would make sense to just say 1 GC per 3 Cruisers. This would mean the mimimum points value to use it would be 875 points anyways.
It would hurt the 1000 point list; I.E. 1 Void Dragon, 1 Dragonship, 2 Wraithships, Eldar Hero, but that list really doesn't make sense anyways, and I guess couldn't be done before FAQ 2010.
So at 1500 a list should have a core like:
1 VD with admiral 395
1 Dragonship 260
3 wraithships 480
with either 8 shadowhunters, another wraithship and 5 shadowhunters, or 2 wraithships and upgrades on commanders.
This actually looks to be quite accurate according to what 'should' be around when larger ships are. This mechanic prevents someone from getting 2 VDs at 1500, and would need at least 1675 to receive 2. If they wanted to do that.
At 2000 you would have a core list similar to this:
2 VDs 1 with admiral 715
2 Dragonships 520
6 Wraithships 640
In every case people would be buying up. Not taking Dragonships in favor of Void Dragons, so that's my reasoning as to why both upgrades should be removed. Just to make it slightly less appealing.
Yes, It should be a little better for its points than a Dragonship, but not significantly.
Back to 1000 point games, without the 'admiral gets a dragonship outside of restrictions rule', I think Bluedagger might stab me.
Like I said, old list; 1 VD, 1 Dragonship, 2 wraithships Eldar hero. Without FAQ 2010 it was 2 Dragonships, 2 Wraithships, Supreme Admiral re-roll and a farseer. Not that far off.
However the admiral dragonship rule was only useful at 1000 points, or if someone didn't want to use a hero.
Now a player is forced to run 4 wraithships and 1 dragonship at this points value if they wanted to max out on cruisers. More sensible for fluff reasons....
My only hope is that Shadowhunters are appealing enough with our changes that it is much more appealing, as from what I understood about the escort was that it was downright terrible.