Compared to cruisers escorts ARE more resilient in every respect EXCEPT for assault boats. That single weakness to AB is what diminishes them considerably in my mind, though the jury is out with the change to killing on a 4+ how much more attractive they will be. Why is this so? Take the lunar, 2 shields and 8 hits for 180 points. Now take 5 swords, 5 shields and 5 hits for 175 points. Ignoring firepower for the moment to look at how they each hold up, a lunar can take 6 hits before it is crippled (2 shields and 4 hull). The escort squadron can also take 6 hits before it's counted as crippled (3 shields and 3 hull). Now, there are a variety of means to get those hits in, but in both cases it'll take around 12 lances to net the 6 hits needed to cripple either one which, given the average Chaos fleet mounts between 10 and 20 lances, it a fairly considerable firepower investment even when we leave BFI out of it. However, the equation changes when we hit WB because of two things. First, escorts take considerably fewer dice for the same amount of batter strength as capital ships. Second, escorts can easily position themselves abeam with their ability to turn without moving and their 90` turns further reducing number of dice rolled. What this means is that you have to allocate a considerable amount more firepower eliminate or cripple an escort squadron or allocate lances which would be better served against capital ships.
Now, about going toe to toe with a cruiser formation. All they need to do is time things to AAF behind the cruisers and they can then lock on while staying in the rear arc and only presenting an abeam aspect to return fire. How long do you think a lunar can stand up to the FP20 of those 5 swords when it's only getting 2 battery dice and 2 lance dice in return?
Of course this all falls apart once AB hit the table, but the point is Escorts can be extremely difficult to kill. I've had a full squadron of 6 swords cripple an undamaged, braced slaughter in a single pass and then take the firepower of the entire fleet and coming out with three ships intact. Use them smartly and they will annoy the tar out of enemy ships and easily pick of damaged ones. Put them in the line and charge in and you will see them die quickly. Since there's always a strong possibility of facing escorts you need to either have lots of AB (not viable with IN) to put them on the defensive, escorts of your own to intercept anything that tries to get behind you, or light cruisers that can maneuver quick enough to threaten enemy escorts. I personally prefer the last option, but, if you take escorts, squadrons of three or five are an effective way to go.
