[dmm]

Boarding warning:
I believe that crew quarters count as half a defense station, or something like that. So if you board a light cruiser (1 crew qtr) with a level 1 boarding party, then you always succeed. But not so with a cruiser (2 crew qtrs). You need a level 2 or two level 1 boarding parties.

My numbers may be wrong here (someone correct, please) but the main point is that larger ships and stations are harder to board, even without defense stations. If you don't know this ahead of time, you get a nasty surprise.