[DirectorTsaarx]

Originally posted by Merry Jolkar:
Also, where can I find info on boarding parties? I know shields stop marines. Anything special I need to do to instruct marines to try to take a ship?

To board another ship (in tactical combat), move your boarding party ship next to the target; click on the "Orders" button and select "Capture Ship" in the window that pops up. You will then be asked to select the target; click on the enemy ship, and, assuming that you've already taken down the opponent's shields, and you have enough boarding parties to overwhelm the crew and any security stations, you can capture the ship. Of course, as Fyron pointed out, if the enemy has a Self-Destruct Device on board, the captured ship will automatically self-destruct when captured. Boarding a ship in strategic is a bit more straightforward (in theory); just make sure the ship has the correct strategy set (Capture Enemy Ships or something like that - it's one of the default strategies you can select when you design a ship).

Originally posted by Merry Jolkar:
Although these topics must be covered somewhere, I could not find the relevant topic on the site. ANy help on how to avoid posting and finding the answers on my own would be appreciated. Thanks!

Well, the HTML manual that comes with the game has information on using boarding parties; unfortunately, it's buried under "Tactical Combat - Orders". Not very obvious. The other sources are the "Frequently Asked Questions for Newbies" thread on this forum, as well as the "Encyclopedia Malfadorica" (a web-based encyclopedia, maintained by fans of SEIV; I forget the URL offhand, but I'm sure one of my fellow forum-surfers will post it for me...)