Hi Long, to my knowledge there is no way to assign ships period. Just like in the regular game, the races start with the 3 basic ships. However, I can help you place the factions. Keep track of the order you place the home worlds when you create the map. Choose "random AI player" for each. Then, when you set up the game, choose the factions in the same order. The game will place the first faction listed in the menu on the first home world you created, and so on to the end. I'd recommend making your "player" home world first, although I've never tried placing it anywhere else. Hope I helped. Let me know.
