First thing's first for clarification: what kind of competition are you facing? If you're on the hardcore Tabletop Simulator side, then meta answers are more appropriate. However, if you're just playing games with friends or at your local meta, you don't need to be so hardcore on your list design.
It's ok to have less than 10 activations, but against meta lists you'll be at a disadvantage (usually). It's fine to run a full squad of arc troopers (and they'll perform quite well), but taking strikes lets you free up more points for more activations or upgrades. Also, strike teams cannot be taken without a Heavy Weapon upgrade, so be sure to factor that cost in when you're fielding them.
As to your last point, Phase I's are quite a bit cheaper than Phase II's, to the point where you could actually field a heavy and a personnel upgrade in the Phase I at the same cost as a Phase II with just the heavy. The Phase I's are inferior to Phase II's, but the reduced point cost allows you greater list flexibility.
If you're just buying in on Clones, there's also some great videos on which expansions to pick up and how they might function. One of which was just recently uploaded after the most recent rules changes: 

“What’s the biggest counter to commander Vader?”
 
Sand

I really want to see a Starhawk leading a fleet that really feels like a major force without breaking 400pts. Visually, seeing a Starhawk that is not accompanied by only squadrons or flotilla's + squadrons, interests me.
I was also curious on the viability of Neb-B escort frigates as flak ships to hunt squadrons and if they would allow me to forgo squadrons entirely, in concept I imagine keeping their tiny front arc at a ship target and use their painfully over-sized side arcs as a anti-squadron zone for the rest of the fleet, in a way the 2 nebs are my squadron force and their price compares to a full squadron complement.
The above thoughts resulted in 2 concepts that feel lacking...
Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57)
• Auxiliary Shields Team (3)
• Heavy Fire Zone (4)
= 64 Points
Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57)
• Auxiliary Shields Team (3)
• Heavy Fire Zone (4)
= 64 Points
Starhawk Battleship Mark I (140)
• Navigation Officer (6)
• Leading Shots (4)
• XI7 Turbolasers (6)
• Unity (10)
= 166 Points
Assault Frigate Mk2 B (72)
• Kyrsta Agate (20)
• XI7 Turbolasers (6)
• Paragon (5)
= 103 Points
with this Agate would grant the AFII a salvo token to abuse Paragon.
an alternative I see swaps the Starhawk and AFII for the following

Starhawk Battleship Mark II (150)
• Kyrsta Agate (20)
• Navigation Officer (6)
• Skilled First Officer (1)
• Leading Shots (4)
• XI7 Turbolasers (6)
= 187 Points
GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Leia Organa (3)
• Slicer Tools (7)
• Bright Hope (2)
= 30 Points
CR90 Corvette A (44)
• Lando Calrissian (4)
• Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
= 55 Points
Both lists leave no bid, the first setup has more damage in ships other than the Hawk, while the 2nd setup has a more potent Hawk, more activations, and some utility like the Leia officer, slicer tools, and a fast objective taker in the cr-90.
 
My final question is.

Can 2 flak neb-b's protect a fleet against 100 points of squadrons?
Is there a better option for a Starhawk fleet that uses a minimalist squadron force or none at all?
Is the Starhawk simply too expensive to field a fleet that has multiple combat ships?
I am open to all ideas, in fact I once tried a Starhawk with 2 AFII's against a Vader fleet with 4 victory's that resulted in a very close game.

Many ships have variants that seem pointless and some seem like the variant is a straight downgrade.

Recently one variant that previously seemed pointless has gained some value because of salvo, the Assault Frigate MK 2 A, a ship that previously seemed overpriced for no benefit, but might have some value with Local Fire Control+Paragon title.
I thought it might be fun to take the less used variants of ships and find builds that can make them superior to their more commonly used variant.
I am not saying these variants are bad, but I struggle to see a reason to use these variants over their other variants, or other ships.

Rebel
Cr-90B -I barely put this one on the list because I can see use of this ship but it is highly risky because you risk your only real defense tokens.
Hammerhead Scout -why use this over a CR-90A? the only thinks that come to mind are Disposable capacitors or pocket carrier shenanigans.
MC-75 Armored Cruiser -In an Akbar fleet this variant is great, but outside of that is there any reason to use it over an Ordinance cruiser if you want to brawl, or a Mc-80 if you want to broadside?
 
Empire

Gladiator II -One red dice in the side arc and an extra flack dice and it costs more...I see no upside to this.
Imperial I Class Star Destroyer -It does have 2 offensive retrofit slots, but other than making a very expensive carrier that is marginally better than the ISD-II, the dice variety seems bad, you cannot even modify your black dice.
Interdictor Combat Refit -You swap 1 blue dice for a red on each side which you cannot modify because you only have a ion weapon slot, and you give up an experimental slot, you know that upgrade slot that makes this ship cost so much more than a Victory...
 
All of these variants seem like their alternate variant or another ship available to their faction can perform better in any role.
If anyone has builds that can make these variants very much worth the trouble, shoot away.
 
If anyone thinks another variant belongs on this list, let me know!

Too many unnecessary upgrades on the Starhawk, its a solid ship even cheap.

I would suggest thinning out the Hawk and putting points into your other ships

Change the armored cruiser into an ordinance with ecm, ex rax, ordinance experts, apt, profundity title
 
With the profundity title you can keep the hammerhead inside the 75 and on raddus turn drop the 75 AND the hammerhead at the same time to surprise your opponent.

So I have 3 variations of a list and 1 totally different and I was hoping for opinions/suggestions.
all 4 lists are at 250 with ideal upgrades knowing that I might not get all upgrades before the campaign ends.
first the 3 variations
Name: RITR potential
Faction: Rebel
Commander: 
Assault: 
Defense: 
Navigation: 
Nebulon-B Support Refit (51)
• Auxiliary Shields Team (3)
• Slaved Turrets (6)
• Vanguard (4)
= 64 Points
Hammerhead Scout Corvette (41)
• Disposable Capacitors (3)
• Slaved Turrets (6)
= 50 Points
Hammerhead Scout Corvette (41)
• Disposable Capacitors (3)
• Slaved Turrets (6)
= 50 Points
Squadrons:
• Hera Syndulla (28)
• 2 x Scurrg H-6 Bomber (32)
• 2 x X-wing Squadron (26)
= 86 Points
Total Points: 250
—————————
Name: RITR potential 2
Faction: Rebel
Commander: 
Assault: 
Defense: 
Navigation: 
Nebulon-B Support Refit (51)
• Auxiliary Shields Team (3)
• Slaved Turrets (6)
= 60 Points
Nebulon-B Support Refit (51)
• Auxiliary Shields Team (3)
• Slaved Turrets (6)
= 60 Points
Nebulon-B Support Refit (51)
• Auxiliary Shields Team (3)
• Slaved Turrets (6)
= 60 Points
Squadrons:
• Hera Syndulla (28)
• 2 x Y-wing Squadron (20)
• 2 x A-wing Squadron (22)
= 70 Points
Total Points: 250
—————————
Name: RITR potential 3
Faction: Rebel
Commander: 
Assault: 
Defense: 
Navigation: 
CR90 Corvette A (44)
= 44 Points
Nebulon-B Support Refit (51)
• Auxiliary Shields Team (3)
• Slaved Turrets (6)
= 60 Points
Nebulon-B Support Refit (51)
• Auxiliary Shields Team (3)
• Slaved Turrets (6)
= 60 Points
Squadrons:
• Hera Syndulla (28)
• 2 x Scurrg H-6 Bomber (32)
• 2 x X-wing Squadron (26)
= 86 Points
Total Points: 250
—————————
And now the list that starts with 0 upgrades 
Name: Star cruiser RITR
Faction: Rebel
Commander: 
Assault: 
Defense: 
Navigation: 
MC80 Star Cruiser (96)
• Intel Officer (7)
• Engine Techs (8)
• Leading Shots (4)
• Slaved Turrets (6)
• XI7 Turbolasers (6)
= 127 Points
Nebulon-B Support Refit (51)
• Auxiliary Shields Team (3)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
= 61 Points
Nebulon-B Support Refit (51)
• Auxiliary Shields Team (3)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
= 61 Points
Squadrons:
= 0 Points
Total Points: 249
 
Which list do you think will have the best results? One opponent has a victory/onager the other has victory/ISD

I play rebel MSU with a particular love of Hammerheads(own 4) and as the post directly above me, Vader+ gunnery teams= lots of dead small ships.
If your opponent is running MSU he probably has very few squadrons if any, so you dont need many, alternatively you could go bomber heavy to punish, but personally I like seeing more capital ship combat.
try something like this and see how he reacts at least I know I hate fighting something like this.
 
Name: Untitled Fleet
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Darth Vader
Assault: 
Defense: 
Navigation: 
ISD Cymoon 1 Refit (112)
• Darth Vader (36)
• Strategic Adviser (4)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Quad Battery Turrets (5)
• Relentless (3)
= 167 Points
Victory II (85)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Disposable Capacitors (3)
• Quad Battery Turrets (5)
= 100 Points
Victory II (85)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Disposable Capacitors (3)
• Quad Battery Turrets (5)
= 100 Points
Squadrons:
• 4 x TIE Fighter Squadron (32)
= 32 Points
Total Points: 399
 
QBT’s punish high speed and rebel corvettes melt in a front arc anyway so your opponent will probably stay high speed to try and avoid your front arcs.
Vader makes every attack consistant.
Strategic officer forces your opponent to make that one extra activation before you need to activate your ships, should increase your targets.

I play rebel MSU with a particular love of Hammerheads(own 4) and as the post directly above me, Vader+ gunnery teams= lots of dead small ships.
If your opponent is running MSU he probably has very few squadrons if any, so you dont need many, alternatively you could go bomber heavy to punish, but personally I like seeing more capital ship combat.
try something like this and see how he reacts at least I know I hate fighting something like this.
 
Name: Untitled Fleet
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Darth Vader
Assault: 
Defense: 
Navigation: 
ISD Cymoon 1 Refit (112)
• Darth Vader (36)
• Strategic Adviser (4)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Quad Battery Turrets (5)
• Relentless (3)
= 167 Points
Victory II (85)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Disposable Capacitors (3)
• Quad Battery Turrets (5)
= 100 Points
Victory II (85)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Disposable Capacitors (3)
• Quad Battery Turrets (5)
= 100 Points
Squadrons:
• 4 x TIE Fighter Squadron (32)
= 32 Points
Total Points: 399
 
QBT’s punish high speed and rebel corvettes melt in a front arc anyway so your opponent will probably stay high speed to try and avoid your front arcs.
Vader makes every attack consistant.
Strategic officer forces your opponent to make that one extra activation before you need to activate your ships, should increase your targets.

I play rebel MSU with a particular love of Hammerheads(own 4) and as the post directly above me, Vader+ gunnery teams= lots of dead small ships.
If your opponent is running MSU he probably has very few squadrons if any, so you dont need many, alternatively you could go bomber heavy to punish, but personally I like seeing more capital ship combat.
try something like this and see how he reacts at least I know I hate fighting something like this.
 
Name: Untitled Fleet
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Darth Vader
Assault: 
Defense: 
Navigation: 
ISD Cymoon 1 Refit (112)
• Darth Vader (36)
• Strategic Adviser (4)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Quad Battery Turrets (5)
• Relentless (3)
= 167 Points
Victory II (85)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Disposable Capacitors (3)
• Quad Battery Turrets (5)
= 100 Points
Victory II (85)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Disposable Capacitors (3)
• Quad Battery Turrets (5)
= 100 Points
Squadrons:
• 4 x TIE Fighter Squadron (32)
= 32 Points
Total Points: 399
 
QBT’s punish high speed and rebel corvettes melt in a front arc anyway so your opponent will probably stay high speed to try and avoid your front arcs.
Vader makes every attack consistant.
Strategic officer forces your opponent to make that one extra activation before you need to activate your ships, should increase your targets.

heres a crazy build that seemed to allow me to change anything about my dice roll other than blanks, granted I use Ryankingston's builder so availability of cards is usually not an issue with my regular opponent.
If I understand timing correctly this should allow you to control your dice to average 7 hits with an accuracy, maybe it will give you a good base and you can change it to be more reliable somehow.

Not really a list, but maybe a build for your MC-80's because you want more consistency.
Name: Untitled Fleet
Faction: Rebel
Commander:
Assault:
Defense:
Navigation:
MC80 Battle Cruiser (103)
• Weapons Battery Techs (5)
• SW-7 Ion Batteries (5)
• Spinal Armament (9)
• H9 Turbolasers (8)
= 130 Points
Squadrons:
= 0 Points
Total Points: 130

Op doesn’t have a 2nd CR-90, or engine techs
 
”Right now I own
Mc75
Gr75
Mc30
2 hammerhead
Core set”

I think you are misinterpreting Leia's style
Leia seems best for low command value ships bc if you use her ability you cannot do any other action(ex if you intensify firepower and use Leia to gain a dice AND a reroll, you cannot use a saved up nav token to change speed)
Because of her ability, she is kinda counter effective for high command ships and is extremely useful for low command ships like Nebs and Hammerheads as she allows them to activate 2 squadrons, have crazy maneuverability, and if you have a lot of ships using Leia for firepower you get much more value out of 4 hammerheads with an extra dice and a reroll than you do for 2 assault frigates with an extra dice and a reroll. I personally would not use her unless I was spamming cheap ships especially given the fact she is the price of a corvette.
Despite not liking your commander choice, I think your first list is much more potent. Perhaps if you use Dodonna to be cheap instead of Leia, you might be able to put APT or ACM on your MC75's second ordinance slot. 
What are your thoughts on trading the MC30 with 2 torp Hammerheads to increase your activation count? Black dice ships want more activation's and a bid if possible to try and First-Last enemy ships. Or maybe drop the MC75 and add 2 torp Hammerheads, MC-30's are easier to get in range, but the 75 is more durable.
 
Last recommendation would be drop 2 Y-wings for Norra or Dutch depending on if you care more about squadrons or bombing cap ships, and if you have 2 points somewhere upgrade a generic Y wing to gold squadron, burst potential goes down but consistency goes way up for such a low price(2).

I would like to open up a discussion on the Starhawk regarding a few thoughts I've had and any other thoughts others have.
 
So here are a few questions to start with.

Do you think a Starhawk is worth taking without a Magnite Crystal Tractor Beam? A MC-75 is a much cheaper brawler, and a MC80 star/battle cruiser has a similar front armament for a nice price.
Are the titles worth using? adding a token and an ability is a lot of power, the Amity title seems like a steal if you aren't going for any particular trick and combining it with TRC might make a funny ship that has a scary salvo attack.
 
Starhawk MKI vs Starhawk MKII
2 great titles are MKI locked
MKI is much cheaper for a minor difference in firepower, a good value considering the base price.
MKII has a red dice for flak and the swap of a black Dice for a blue helps with the Starhawk's slow speed.
 
Another thought is are there any crazy synergies between officers? this is the only rebel ship other than the Pelta w/title that has access to 2 officer slots although I have a feeling that Strategic Adviser is automatically bolted to this ship to make up for the loss in activation.
 
Most of my theory crafting was because of RyanKingston's builder which now has both new ships and the new cards---https://armada.ryankingston.com/---
 

To me it looks very reminiscent of a wookie gunship.

Perhaps the dial should be similar to the auzituck, but lacks the stop and gains a 4k. A hair more maneuverable to compensate for the lack of 180 degree firing arc.
 
To me the guns on the side look like heavy duty cannons, so it seems likely to have a cannon slot.
 
Just for the love of god don't make it a Mist Hunter clone, please keep this game to 1 B-wing dial per faction.

To me it looks very reminiscent of a wookie gunship.

Perhaps the dial should be similar to the auzituck, but lacks the stop and gains a 4k. A hair more maneuverable to compensate for the lack of 180 degree firing arc.
 
To me the guns on the side look like heavy duty cannons, so it seems likely to have a cannon slot.
 
Just for the love of god don't make it a Mist Hunter clone, please keep this game to 1 B-wing dial per faction.

To me it looks very reminiscent of a wookie gunship.

Perhaps the dial should be similar to the auzituck, but lacks the stop and gains a 4k. A hair more maneuverable to compensate for the lack of 180 degree firing arc.
 
To me the guns on the side look like heavy duty cannons, so it seems likely to have a cannon slot.
 
Just for the love of god don't make it a Mist Hunter clone, please keep this game to 1 B-wing dial per faction.

Second attempt.
I am not sure if it is better to give my big drop a offense or defense officer.
As far as bids, 10 points is usually enough against my typical opponent.

 
Name: Just in the nick of time.
Faction: Rebel
Commander: Admiral Raddus
Assault: Blockade Run
Defense: Capture the VIP
Navigation: Sensor Net
GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Slicer Tools (7)
• Quantum Storm (1)
= 26 Points
CR90 Corvette A (44)
• Admiral Raddus (26)
• Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
= 77 Points
CR90 Corvette A (44)
• Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
= 51 Points
CR90 Corvette A (44)
• Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
= 51 Points
MC75 Ordnance Cruiser (100)
• Major Derlin (7)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Electronic Countermeasures (7)
• External Racks (3)
• Assault Concussion Missiles (7)
• Profundity (7)
= 135 Points
Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette (36)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• External Racks (3)
• Garel's Honor (4)
= 47 Points
Squadrons:
= 0 Points
Total Points: 387

I’m a fairly new player(despite owning a good amount), I don’t get much playtime but I mess with an app in my free time.
I own 
4xhammerhead
3x cr90
3x Nebulon 
1x assault frigate
1x pelta
1x mc 80 home one
1x mc 75
1x gr 75 flotilla
and plenty of squadrons but only 1 rogues and villains pack
 
Heres the list, feel free to tear me a new one.
 
Name: Just in the nick of time.
Faction: Rebel
Commander: Admiral Raddus
Assault: Blockade Run
Defense: Capture the VIP
Navigation: Sensor Net
Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette (36)
• Admiral Raddus (26)
= 62 Points
CR90 Corvette A (44)
• Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
= 51 Points
CR90 Corvette A (44)
• Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
= 51 Points
CR90 Corvette A (44)
• Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
= 51 Points
MC75 Ordnance Cruiser (100)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Electronic Countermeasures (7)
• External Racks (3)
• Expanded Launchers (13)
• Profundity (7)
= 134 Points
Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette (36)
• External Racks (3)
= 39 Points
Squadrons:
= 0 Points
Total Points: 388

The faq on the Hera/seasoned navigator trick does make me sad, but I still feel like she is somewhat usable in casual.
The turret nerf's have sorta made the intimidation build the only realistic one if you want any wingmen.
try something like this, it works for me in pickup games here and there.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hera Syndulla VCX-100
W/intimidation, Nien Numb, Zeb Orrelios
Total- 82
 
Wedge Antillies T-65
W/Predator
Total-57
 
Thane Kyrell T-65
W/Outmaneuver
Total-54
List total-193
 
My thought process was along the lines of Wedge is powerful enough with minimal upgrades and will likely get focused by my opponent because everyone recognizes the pilot and watches him like a hawk, thus I should play him super safe to try to make sure he lasts to the later half of the game.
With Hera the goal is to be the lead ship and bump if possible as it tends to lead to a crippled or dead enemy ship with the support of my other ships. (intimidation helps your allies too dont forget)  Nien helps make Hera more unpredictable as her pilot ability makes the ghost ALMOST have a re-position action in effect.
Thane has outmaneuver because I expect him to draw the least amount of attention from my opponent, as well as further putting weight on my opponent's flying skills as now they have to be wary of
-Hera trying to bump/get range 1 shots.
-Wedge being in range with a modded shot.
-Thane coming in from an off angle to force my opponent to face him and give my other ships a good chase angle, or ignore him and get hit harder than Wedge.
 
In practice it seems to work fairly well unless I am facing a missile/torpedo spam list.
 

The faq on the Hera/seasoned navigator trick does make me sad, but I still feel like she is somewhat usable in casual.
The turret nerf's have sorta made the intimidation build the only realistic one if you want any wingmen.
try something like this, it works for me in pickup games here and there.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hera Syndulla VCX-100
W/intimidation, Nien Numb, Zeb Orrelios
Total- 82
 
Wedge Antillies T-65
W/Predator
Total-57
 
Thane Kyrell T-65
W/Outmaneuver
Total-54
List total-193
 
My thought process was along the lines of Wedge is powerful enough with minimal upgrades and will likely get focused by my opponent because everyone recognizes the pilot and watches him like a hawk, thus I should play him super safe to try to make sure he lasts to the later half of the game.
With Hera the goal is to be the lead ship and bump if possible as it tends to lead to a crippled or dead enemy ship with the support of my other ships. (intimidation helps your allies too dont forget)  Nien helps make Hera more unpredictable as her pilot ability makes the ghost ALMOST have a re-position action in effect.
Thane has outmaneuver because I expect him to draw the least amount of attention from my opponent, as well as further putting weight on my opponent's flying skills as now they have to be wary of
-Hera trying to bump/get range 1 shots.
-Wedge being in range with a modded shot.
-Thane coming in from an off angle to force my opponent to face him and give my other ships a good chase angle, or ignore him and get hit harder than Wedge.
 
In practice it seems to work fairly well unless I am facing a missile/torpedo spam list.
 

My recommendations would be similar to cap116
 
-Assault frigate mk2 B is dramatically better than the mk2 A- 1 blue flak dice, and 1 blue front/rear dice is not better than gaining an increased squadron number(especially with a boarding upgrade- spending 3 of the enemies defense tokens is shuts down defenses dramatically compared to 2) and on top of that you save even more points.
 
I would be tempted to swap the hammerheads with torpedo hammerheads as it would have a better synergy with boarding engineer's, alternatively I would drop boarding troopers on scout hammerheads if you want to stay with scouts.
 
Maybe with the saved points upgrade the a-wings to both named a-wing pilots? they survive dramatically longer than a generic a-wing because of the scatter die. Another Idea would be to swap the generic e-wing with a yt-2400 or a rogue squadron x-wing to make your squadron forces work without any squadron commands while having the same anti squadron firepower the generic e-wing provides.
 
Your cr-90 is fine, in fact I personally feel the cr-90A is superior to scout hammerheads unless you are taking advantage of a slot the cr-90 doesn't have because the cr-90 is more durable and can bring more firepower if you double arc.(personally scout hammerheads only exist in my opinion as a cheap flight controller ship, or as the 3rd hammerhead in a trio using 2 torp hammers and a scout with Task Force Antilles and shunting damage to the scout first as your opponent will likely target the torpedo hammerheads as they are the greater threat.
 
 
--If you were willing to change fleet composition I would recommend changing the cr-90 or the hammerheads, and swap it to 3 cr-90A's with TRC, or 2 torpedo hammerheads(TFA/external racks) and 1 scout hammerhead (TFA/slaved turret)
 

Customized YT-1300 Light Freighter: the only option that seems worth the price atm is solo with trickshot and greedo. Funny that Greedo seems to work best with Solo of all characters.
Fang Fighter: I have had good results with every pilot option other than the initiative 1, I would recommend not flying more than 1 fang as it feels best as a flanker(and with the price on fang's if you run multiple you dont have any ships to face off with your opponent and create space for a flank.) Yes concordia wants you to be in front arc to proc, but honestly if you can get behind something, it is pretty easy to stay in their rear arc until you kill it with all the reposition+focus options.
Kihraxz Fighter: This was actually my favorite ship in 1.0 because you could build it however you liked then, now its bloated with slots it can't use and its a little vexxing that the picture of engine upgrade in 2.0 shows a kihraxz, yet this ship cannot equip it, talk about insult to injury ( https://xwing-miniatures-second-edition.fandom.com/wiki/Engine_Upgrade ) The kihraxz still has a great knife fighting dial(1 hard's and 2 talon's are beautiful maneuvers) Everyone looks at Talonbane, but Graz+outmaneuver is just as dangerous and usually easier to pull off.
Lancer-class Pursuit Craft: I plan to try Ketsu with seasoned navigator, title, and fearless, if it doesn't kill, it will cripple and make a target quite vulnerable. Seasoned navigator and Zuckuss are curious upgrades I have not seen used often that may work with this ship because of it's blue options.
M3-A Interceptor: This ship has a few tricks that might work, it feels like you only want to run 1 M3-A or perhaps just named pilots, Serissu with HLC is fairly cheap and not terribly hard to line up, Sunny with anything is very cheap and usually worth the price, Laetin is a fly you just can't swat(even more so with elusive for that one time rng was against you, Genesis Red has potential.
Starviper-class Attack Platform: Most fun ship in the game, and I dare you to change my mind. I wish there was 1 more high initiative pilot(bring back thweek) Guri in the hands of someone very skilled is almost impossible to get a shot on and is very good at changing a situation from Guri being chased, to Guri chasing her hunter.
YV-666 Light Freighter: This is a sleeper, we will eventually get good crew options for it, in fact we already have a few combinations that work alright, why are the named pilots priced so high? Despite this I am definitely trying out Moralo with a Bossk Z-95 flanking the enemy to split the enemies forces.

Scum's ships arent in the greatest spot, but most of them have 1 pilot that can perform well with a particular set of upgrades.
Give Kihraxz the Vaksai title somehow and they would instantly become as effective as X-wings.
 
Side-thought, Can large bases just get a firepower increase across the board? It's silly that FFG keeps making them cheaper to the point some Large bases cost comparable to the price a generic small base. I dont want to see a mini-swarm of large bases, I want to see a large base that costs twice the price of a small base, put out the same firepower of 2 small base ships...
imagine if the Decimator was allowed to make an extra attack at initiative 0, boom suddenly enough firepower to explain it's price and ships with reposition(almost everything in the game) have the possibility of dodging the attack regardless of their initiative, Personally the VCX-100 is the only large base that feels worth the price of 2 small ships, Upsilon Tavson used to feel solid too, but I haven't looked at him since the ship got whipped from being overused.

Customized YT-1300 Light Freighter: the only option that seems worth the price atm is solo with trickshot and greedo. Funny that Greedo seems to work best with Solo of all characters.
Fang Fighter: I have had good results with every pilot option other than the initiative 1, I would recommend not flying more than 1 fang as it feels best as a flanker(and with the price on fang's if you run multiple you dont have any ships to face off with your opponent and create space for a flank.) Yes concordia wants you to be in front arc to proc, but honestly if you can get behind something, it is pretty easy to stay in their rear arc until you kill it with all the reposition+focus options.
Kihraxz Fighter: This was actually my favorite ship in 1.0 because you could build it however you liked then, now its bloated with slots it can't use and its a little vexxing that the picture of engine upgrade in 2.0 shows a kihraxz, yet this ship cannot equip it, talk about insult to injury ( https://xwing-miniatures-second-edition.fandom.com/wiki/Engine_Upgrade ) The kihraxz still has a great knife fighting dial(1 hard's and 2 talon's are beautiful maneuvers) Everyone looks at Talonbane, but Graz+outmaneuver is just as dangerous and usually easier to pull off.
Lancer-class Pursuit Craft: I plan to try Ketsu with seasoned navigator, title, and fearless, if it doesn't kill, it will cripple and make a target quite vulnerable. Seasoned navigator and Zuckuss are curious upgrades I have not seen used often that may work with this ship because of it's blue options.
M3-A Interceptor: This ship has a few tricks that might work, it feels like you only want to run 1 M3-A or perhaps just named pilots, Serissu with HLC is fairly cheap and not terribly hard to line up, Sunny with anything is very cheap and usually worth the price, Laetin is a fly you just can't swat(even more so with elusive for that one time rng was against you, Genesis Red has potential.
Starviper-class Attack Platform: Most fun ship in the game, and I dare you to change my mind. I wish there was 1 more high initiative pilot(bring back thweek) Guri in the hands of someone very skilled is almost impossible to get a shot on and is very good at changing a situation from Guri being chased, to Guri chasing her hunter.
YV-666 Light Freighter: This is a sleeper, we will eventually get good crew options for it, in fact we already have a few combinations that work alright, why are the named pilots priced so high? Despite this I am definitely trying out Moralo with a Bossk Z-95 flanking the enemy to split the enemies forces.

Scum's ships arent in the greatest spot, but most of them have 1 pilot that can perform well with a particular set of upgrades.
Give Kihraxz the Vaksai title somehow and they would instantly become as effective as X-wings.
 
Side-thought, Can large bases just get a firepower increase across the board? It's silly that FFG keeps making them cheaper to the point some Large bases cost comparable to the price a generic small base. I dont want to see a mini-swarm of large bases, I want to see a large base that costs twice the price of a small base, put out the same firepower of 2 small base ships...
imagine if the Decimator was allowed to make an extra attack at initiative 0, boom suddenly enough firepower to explain it's price and ships with reposition(almost everything in the game) have the possibility of dodging the attack regardless of their initiative, Personally the VCX-100 is the only large base that feels worth the price of 2 small ships, Upsilon Tavson used to feel solid too, but I haven't looked at him since the ship got whipped from being overused.

You only need a single A-wing.

I think that is too cheap for the starhawk(as much as I wish it were that cheap)

the Starhawk has the same firepower as a ISD, and a lot more shields, its side shields are the same strength as the ISD's front.

OSD will definitely not be cheaper than an Interdictor, it is much more threatening as it is the only weapon with a special range.