Hmmmm....interesting points from all of you.
@Cneo...why seven squadrons? Are all those ship in pairs? Or triples? What's their composition and purpose?
I usually group it in triples, sometimes Gladius in quartet.
The Hunters are like Bow Cavalry...they come, launch salves of torpedoes to capital ships and flee to reload.
The Gladii are enemy escorts killers. A 12-16 battery salve is enough to destroy or do heavy damage to enemy squadrons and sometimes crippled capitals or light cruisers.
The Novas have two roles. Hunt enemy escorts like Gladius or finish off crippled enemy capitals. But they're so expensive and I use it few times.
If I have to mix something, I chose Gladius & Novas, they work well together.
My usually escorts squadrons composition for battles between 1000-2000 pts. is:
2x 3-4 Hunter
2x 3-4 Gladius + sometimes 1 Nova (for -1500)
1x 2-3 Nova (for +1500)