jousting ships.... I call meh.
It sounds like fun, and is fun for a while, but actually gets boring really fast.
Go get a copy of staR Control II and dogfight (in melee mode) a bunch of ZotFotPik Stinger craft against a human opponent with the same ship...
I got ur-quan-masters. A remake once the source of the game was released.
I already beat SC2 quite a few times. That game never gets old. But yeah, if you have excellent memory, it does minimize the replayability of the game (Unless you apply certain challenges, or know how to induce short-term amnesia).
With jousting ships; you have to consider, this is in 3D space. Sometimes in the atmosphere, and sometimes in space; and if adapted for aquatic purpose, then under water as well. Each kind of battle is vastly different from one another; wind, gravity, zero-G (or minimal friction), and the occasional scenery object (sometimes exploited for combat; like a asteroid being batted across a battlefield like a baseball). Duels aren't always between the same kind/class of ships, and sometimes teams would fight teams. Orderly chaos is all you'll see. I understand if you'll be tempted to fire a ranged weapon, but in the laws of the battles, that kind of conduct is frowned upon, as the duels are more a sport. By the way, the ranged weapons usually don't last long in battle anyway, and even if they do, Have fun trying to shoot down a spinning blade craft swinging in your direction while dodging it. It sorta looks similar to the Speed Racer movie car melees.
I still want to see a game or flight sim that applies this, at least as an option (maneuverability and hitpoint hardpoints. Similar to DF's health system.)