well, wings are for one - a design thing... they do add to the feeling of the factions ship. - and they are of course a disadvantage, too - that makes up for other advantages maybe.
like the original BHG fighters - they are hard to hit in a one on one joust - ( which is fine, cause BHGs are sort of supposed to work alone ) - but they are quite big targets from the sides ( which they hardly ever show when they re duelling )
a capital ship is of course not meant to "duel" - ( in the classic sense ) - but a ship that thin "needs" wings to offer a good target from another angle. - of course..... it is efficient to make a very thin and tube like ship - and of course... thats what we "know" is most efficient.
but i d take such wings as balancing parts, too. - of course there are ships that wings can become a real pain to play ( huntress, albatross ) - but thats part of the design sort of.
then there are ships that are simply big ( mainly battleships ) - where having wings or not makes little to no difference... but for a ship like a destroyer class, - such design details are not only ornamental nature, but aswell balancing ( provided the wings have a hitbox of course )
- if Cheshire was flying a capital ship within the BHG, i would most surely switch to that design. - well, but since my chances of survival are like 1000 times greater when i fly a hammerhead - i won t.