In my last game, the ships I got for anomalies were 0 engine 1 life support 4 weapon 3 shield.  With credits now being important, I was unwilling to upgrade most of them to a design I liked.  This design works great on pirates, but I suffered 50% casualties when I attacked a pirate base with a fleet of 6.

   I would like the ability to specify a build order for the most basic craft in the designer.  For example:

   Small combat ships:  Weapon (any); Shield; Life Support; Engine; Defense 2; Defense 3; Life Support; Weapon 2; Life Support; Weapon 3

      With one of each defense they can be used to attack pirate shipyards

   Tiny Scout:  Sensor, Life Support, Engine, Life Support, Life Support, Engine

   Small Scout:  Sensor, Life Support, Engine, Life Support, Sensor, Life Support, Engine, Life Support

   Constructor / Colony ship:  Module, Engine, Life Support, Life Support, Life Support, Module, Engine, Life Support, Life Support, Life Support

   Medium Survey Ship:  Survey, Life Support, Engine, Life Support, Shield, Weapon (not beam), Life Support, Engine, Life Support, Defense 2, Defense 3, Weapon 2, Weapon 3

    Shield + 1 non beam weapon will let them kill anomaly pirates

   Freighter:  Module, Life Support, Engine, Life Support, Life Support, Engine, Life Support, Life Support, Engine, Life Support

   Just allow us to line up the modules in a row and have the game fill up the design to max capacity, then generate bonus ships based on the latest design.  If we want a custom ship, we will make one - like a cut rate colony ship with just an engine and colony module for early rush builds, or the Thulium / Promethion build I like to use for scouting and collecting anomolies.

  I like playing on larger maps, so my designs usually have a lot of engines and range, unless they are designed for planetary defense.