I really enjoy the broadside configuration, particularly flying one. Also nice write-up Yooey.
I’m happy to identify myself as a/the person who has said that giving up single-side manual targeting is less efficient than the potential for trying to gain efficiency by firing on both sides for the split broadside configuration.
The main concern I have though with @admin’s idea of a slow firing cannon is its effectiveness. There is certainly the other concern that those are frustrating to play, but the damage on the main cannon has to be enough to compensate for the time spent out of combat, positioning, and effectiveness. Given the buffs to enemy shields, I’d say a ship like this should be able to destroy a Kralien cruiser in a single firing pass. It has to be able to make a significant dent to be of any use, let alone feel good. And currently that’s around 150 damage.