I made a quick mod that helps them where all the empire hulls make FAR more power. I say they have the super-advanced tech of antimatter power production. The huge CAs get 150 power production, the frigates get half that. Their fighters get 8.
End result is they have frightening fighters. Might be best to give them 2 turrets, 1 standard module, or at least 1 like that. The CA and FFs are certainly more competitive. My goal was to be able to load them with shields. Worked. The Empire beam laser is weak. Thought that with anti-matter, they could get an anti-matter beam. Short range, slower firing, nasty damage. In addition, they could get an antimatter torpedo—no decoys, fast, very large damage, slow turn.
I would also like to see some race-specific modules for the Federation and Rebels (the red-headed stepchildren who have no toys of their own).
In keeping with the Federation’s greedy mercantile nature, perhaps they could have a few specific modules whose primary benefit is a reduced cost (hagglers always get the best deal); or a severely reduced cost for a moderately reduced benefit (everything is built by the lowest bidder).
Rebels - hm, not quite sure. But their benefits seem to run to speed, so maybe special superfast Rebel engines? (Throw a couple extra hamsters on the wheel!)
I also like the idea of specialized power plants, armor etc. for various races. But let’s let cliff keep some of the ideas for future expansions and new races, eh?