Question about SE5 for those who know.

[Suicide Junkie]

Well, it is probably best to consider Screenshots #5, 7 and 8.

The ships on screen will be quite small, so you really shouldn't need many polygons to make a nice looking ship. All the details will usually be pixellated away.

Having a very high poly model to do the 2D portrait renders from might be useful, but for the small ships in game it shouldn't take many at all.

Also, the fewer polys you use, the more use your set will see in larger maps and mods which encourage large fleets.