Not really. Here's how I see it...
Sathanas: Massive destructive capabilities focused almost entirely to narrow front cone- ideal for for attacks on large capships, particularly sneak attacks (i.e. the Sathanas jmps in right next to its target and blasts it with one or two beam hits before the enemy can react adequately- obviously the Shivans designed the Sath with this in mind, looking at the way it acts in the nebula with devastating effectiveness vs. how it does exposed between jumps). Still, with its enormous power the Sath can sometimes simply bludgeon its way through a capship fight, though it is essentially defenseless against bombers.
Colossus: Features a wide damage arc, nearly 360* of fairly evenly distributed weaponry. This ship is meant to operate best at the center of a large enemy fleet composed of much smaller ships- it can take on and trounce a Hecate fairly easily, but it couldn't deal with a half dozen like the Sathanas could. Altogether the Colossus has the more dangerous application, overall not a good idea in Terran designs. But then, the designers didn't know what sort of enemy it would end up taking on, did they?
My past life as an E2150 combat strategist comes back to me sometimes... Anyway, this is really the lay of things as far as I can tell. As you can see, it's actually the Shivans with the strategy on their side, which is too bad since the best way to make balanced Terran fleets in FS is to have them weaker but smarter. Both are ideal for what they are made for, but sometimes I don't think FREDders realize how best to exploit their strong points, which leaves the Sathanas simply hacking its way through capships and looking dramatic, while the Colossus is rejected because it cannot do same. Throw a few dozen Fenrises, Leviathans, Aeoluses, and miscellaneous fighter/bombers at the C and see how much better it lays down suppressing fire than the Sath.
