One consideration that has not been mentioned is just how PRETTY the miniature is, which is a valid point in its favour
I'll grant you that. The model looks great.
Alpha with AT is 20 tap with title and at is 19, tap can guarantee 2 damage stopped from a turret alpha can only be sure of one.
Alpha can't take PTL and as it shoots last it'll most likely need to use its action for defence so naked red dice give 1.5 damage as an average, TAP will have its TL giving it a decent chance to get two hits.
Tap not only has one more hit point it's 50% shields to boot.
Alpha is the clear loser.
Yeah, the Alpha is, unfortunately, one of the worst ships in the game. Way too expensive for a 3 hull ship.
if by "one of the worst" you mean it's in the bottom 50, then maybe.
But it's the cheapest ship that still has 3 attack dice, has an great dial, and can both boost and barrel roll. It is also a candidate for autothrusters. It's far more than a "3 hull ship", and even so, that 3 hull provides a protection against a shield-bypassing direct hit. It's very solid.
Pilots worse than the Alpha (in my opinion)
-All M3A Scyks (4)
-Major Rhymer (5)
Some others are close (generic Starvipers and E-wings, namely), but I still think I put them ahead of the Alpha. Either way, bottom 10 pilot with all ships and factions in mind.
3 Attack dice are nice, but with how fragile it is associated with its cost, it needs defensive and offensive actions, which it can't get both in a round. It either spends its token to protect itself, making those 3 or 4 attack dice without modifiers far from intimidating, or, it rolls poorly on defense anyways and dies. Sometimes it makes it through without being fired on, but, since it will always be moving first, any build with any half decent arc dodger will have a pretty simple time getting out of any of their arcs. And if you face jousters, pretty sure they shred them before the Alpha does enough damage to be worth its points anyways.
In comparison, the Sienar Test Pilot gets the title, so it gets what the Alpha lacks- offensive and defensive actions each round, and also gets access to the only other defensive modifier the Alpha has in autothrusters. It also gets to shoot at the same time as most low PS generics at PS 2, whereas the Alphas don't even get to return fire if they are caught by these guys.
And what does having boost and barrel roll at low PS do for you? Nothing outside of setting up blocks. So ya, maybe the Alpha is a quality blocker, but if you're looking for a blocker, then I'm gonna guess the Sienar Test Pilot is going to do that job better and at a cheaper cost. 2 S 2 H behind 3 agility means it might even live a missed block!
That incredible dial may very well make the Sienar Test Pilot the best blocker in the game. The only thing the Alpha has over it in that respect is a PS of 1 (which probably has more negatives than positives) and the green 2 turn and a 5-K, which we will have to wait and see if that is more valuable than the 1 green turns and banks.
So ya, I'm not worried at all about the cost in comparison to one of the worst pilots in the game.
