Assume the following:

I have two spaceships, consisting in code of hundreds of "modules" that are individually collidable. I use these modules for different purposes -- armor, shields, whatever. These modules have hit point values.

My two spaceships are crashing into each other. These ships have, in code:
1. Mass
2. Velocity
3. etc.

What I want to do is to somewhat realistically transfer momentum between the ships. I want to use the modules on the ships as a sort of crumple space. When the ships collide, the colliding modules take damage, and the ship is slowed appropriately depending on the mass and velocity of the colliding bodies.

I'm pretty rusty with my physics. Can you folks point me in the right direction to figure out impact forces and how I can try to model an impact?