Delta Vector Space Game: Task Forces & Small Ships 2.0

I've revised my ambitions from WW2/WW1 scale battles with 12-24 or so per side to smaller forces of 4-8 per side.   I'm modelling them more on modern naval task forces.  These will typically include 1-3 large ships, and 2-6 smaller ships.

Capital Ships
Like a modern task group, the large ships will tend to be more specialised, e.g.

Fleet Carrier (cross between drone carrier and PT-boat tender)
Jumpship (creates its own jump point)
Missile Cruiser (spams powerful missiles)
Bombardment Cruiser (powerful spinal mount railcannon and lasers)
Assault Carrier (carries marines, atmospheric drones, assault boats and planetary bombardment weapons)

They will also tend to be slow - 1 or 2 thrust means they need to keep to low velocities, and have very predictable movement.  

Escorts
The much maligned "escorts" will act like jack-of-all trades rather like modern destroyers and frigates.   They will be much faster - averaging 3-5 thrust. As thrust can be traded for defensive modifiers (a +4 defensive bonus vs d10 is significant) they are mobile and survivable.    They will be mobile and largely capable of avoiding contact with bigger ships/mitigating damage.  That said, if they park alongside a heavier ship and go toe-to-toe they WILL get messed up.

Escorts will have a few roles - a few idea are:

Interdictor (block warp with emp bombs/ion beams or slow with tractors)
Bomber (unguided nuke/EMP)
Destroyer (lots of light weapons for fighting light vessels, drones etc)
Hunter-Killer (massive spinal mount for taking on capital ships)
Scout (double command & sensor range; can "relay" command bonuses)
Active EW (buff friendlies, debuff enemies 'to hit')

Their high speed allows them to perform roles like interdiction and scouting, and line up unguided weapons with precision. 

It may be a bit unrealistic to make smaller ships faster, when in space all ships are governed by the same thrust/weight ratio (a Star Destroyer, with better engines/size could potentially outrun an X-Wing) but it's a gameplay choice I'm making. 

Problems
My main concern is giving small ships a "too hit" bonus encourages them to engage from further away. I'll need to make it that powerful capital ship weapons will discourage long range duels.