I imagine we are talking standard, not torpedo bombers, right?

I'm not even sure how I feel about torpedo bombers. The idea of launching 30-40 torpedoes in a single round of combat is chilling. Then again, those squadrons are way fragile. If you run into enemy fighters, you're in real trouble. Also, the ammunition is in short supply.

If you were asking about proportions, then torpedo bombers were usually less than 1/3 of the total craft carried.

I'd probably take a pass on torpedo bombers most of the time. Unlike regular bombers, IIRC you need to acquire the torps. And that's just painful. You'd need major connections and extensive logistical infrastructure if you wanted to make torpedo bombers an every-fight deployment option.

That said, if you know you're going to be going after a large group of hostiles, a bunch of torp bomber squadrons is downright brutal, assuming you can get the right angle of fire where there are a bunch of them lined up.

Torp bombers are good in fleet on fleet actions, but are less good otherwise. And most of the time Rogue Traders aren't going to be involved in that kind of fighting, much less often enough to make the necessary investments for torp bombers worthwhile.

On a galleon supercarrier design, you could well go 2 launch bays each side and one or two hold landing bays as well. Of course, you will want to build the rest of the ship for speed and stealth. Also Detection, so you don't get ambushed.

I'm not sure you can get more than one hold landing bay, but a bay on either side and a hold bay seems to be the default idea I'm running with. I'm somewhat worried a single gun on either side won't do too much, but I imagine with decent gunners a Sunsear Battery (good- or best quality, if possible) can put a dent in most lighter enemies, and for cruisers or the like... well, I'm not sure a Galleon is made to go solo versus one of these.

The problem is, without a ton of SP going into good craftmanship component, this ship has a really poor amount of space to throw around. If I'm packing a carrier I consider pilot quarters and small craft repair facility pretty much a necessity, and with that and with the basics, 2 landing bays, and Mars macrocannons I'm already out out of space. I was almost tempted to go for escort bays, but 2 of them have the strength of one regular one:/

If you're going to go landing bay and guns on a broadside, you pretty much have to use a broadside, not just a battery. I'd suggest a plasma broadside, if you're determined to run guns and launch bays.

Also, you need a really good gunner - ie, able to reliably get 4+ DoS on most rolls if you want to do damage with only one macrobattery bearing on target.

You generally need a prow or dorsal spot (or three broadside slots) so you can bring 2 weapons to bear if you're mixing carrier and guns, if you want reliable damage from the guns.

The rules don't really lend their support to building an assault carrier type ship in something smaller than a heavy battlecruiser or a grand cruiser. Otherwise, you don't have enough space or enough weapon slots to make it work.

Torpedo bombers look too much like an afterthought in BFK. Those torps should be smaller, have smaller warheads, shortened ranges...everything...and I also hate the launch rules. Carriers in general need work. They are broken monsters. I have my own house rules to bring them back in line. I haven't tried to tackle torpedo bombers yet, nor am I convinced they need to be.

Pretty sure torp bomber torps are already reduced range. At least, reduced maximum range/endurance.

I'm pretty sure that the carrier rules were playtested using book-generic NPC ships, stats, and builds, assuming they were playtested at all, rather than with even somewhat realistic PC-style builds and stats, much less builds and stats optimized for them.

It's sort of endemic in RPGs - NPCs/book statted entities are nowhere near as good as an equivalent level character built by a moderately experienced player.

Well, most NPCs are supposed to work for new players as well, and I imagine it's not cool for a hyped-up group that pooled resources for a, say, light cruiser if an NPC raider whips their asses.

I'm of the opinion that NPC ships can have officers every bit as good as PCs. I ignore the badly drawn up NPCs in modules.

Getting an Elite (-30) Pilot (+30 for single) is easy (= +0). That's probably Agility 40, Pilot +20. Better is always available, of course.

Acquisitions extend into the category of hirelings.

I'm of the opinion that NPC ships can have officers every bit as good as PCs. I ignore the badly drawn up NPCs in modules.

Getting an Elite (-30) Pilot (+30 for single) is easy (= +0). That's probably Agility 40, Pilot +20. Better is always available, of course.

Acquisitions extend into the category of hirelings.

Absolutely.

Actually, that might be under statting the guy.

A mostly generic low-level PC is probably going to be around a Stat 40 in primary role stats, with probably between +10 and +20 in skills, applicable talents, equipment, and other incidentals, which may or may not include ship component modifiers. At middling levels, you can easily get another +10 to +20 in Stat increases and modifiers, without trying to minmax.

Whereas the "average" NPC ship target is only 30 total. I can see that being the case for Generic Crewmember #3892, but an NPC ship presumably has Officers, Command Crew, and Specialists of its own, and they're presumably roughly comparable, if not better, than a bog standard Rank 1 PC, at least in their specialties, probably giving them about +10 to +15 over the "average" NPC ship crew stat.