I see epic as the reason to play huge ships.

Building without them when you have access to them just seems a little like missing the point.

I see it as the reason to play one large fight across a ~4x6 area composed of multiple different smaller dogfights that ships can hop between. To me, having both sides pick epics with ~150 points of actual ships each is no different than just playing a 150 point battle to begin with.

I need to field 5 Autothruster Interceptors AND 4 Loaded Gamma Bombers AND 8 Academy Pilots.

I just got my Raider, so I haven't gotten to see huge ships on both sides. The only epic ship I've used (and fought) so far is the CR90, and in my experience, it can play a very pivotal role in a battle. And Decimators really don't like it.

So, no, I don't think huge ships are bad. On the contrary, they're fun, thematic, and they can be brutally effective.