Sexier? Nah, they are for power gamers. Destroyer warfare is FAR more exciting and "sexy" 
Actually, regarding the finer statting aspect, I don't think it would have required a fundamental change. Even something as simple as using a d10 rather than a d6 would have allowed a wider variation in ships' capabilities to be covered (I started writing a d10 system a few months back that worked well but ran out of time to complete it)

Actually, regarding the finer statting aspect, I don't think it would have required a fundamental change. Even something as simple as using a d10 rather than a d6 would have allowed a wider variation in ships' capabilities to be covered (I started writing a d10 system a few months back that worked well but ran out of time to complete it)