Tell you what. Whenever I get access to a computer capable of playing Fl for an hour, I'll show you that escorts do work. Of course, I'd need two/three bombers, myself flying a battleship, and an escort or two, depending on the number of bombers.
Point is, you could have forward guns on a battleship, but you're hardly ever going to be in a position to use it. I don't think the idea isn't awesome, the Lib Cruiser for example, is just a big cannon of awesome flying in space, feels awesome and looks awesome and flies awesome, but it's impractical on a ship that has nothing bigger than it. sure, on things like Mako's facing Corsair Dreads, or Lib Dreadnoughts facing rheinalnd BSes, it might work.