There are two hurdles I think you will need to overcome for this to succeed.
#1) This game does not lend itself well to one person running more than 2 maybe 3 ships tops. 2-3 ships is incredibly limiting for a variation of one's forces. If you go two person teams, then this problem is removed.
#2) "Kill the other guy" might get old as the only objective. You need a set of scenarios to vary games.