[Cylapse]

"How to make troops"...
Aww, How cute *LOL* Troops are made in the same manner as ships, you are allowed to meticulously design the troop as a unit, (gives me the feeling of 'Armored Core' - anyone ever play that?)...

So once you have researched troops, you should have a whole suite of components available like a Troop Cockpit, guns, armor, etc...

Also, if you research Ship Capture (advanced military science I think) you should be able to kick out boarding parties and security, use them along with some Shield Depleters... sap the shields dry, close to point blank and take over that bastard, using the Order - Capture ship. (I think hitting the 'C' key will change your cursor into a ship selection tool so you can capture without having to open the Order menu)

And yes, if you capture his ship, you can either, use it to colonize your own world, or you can drag it back to a shipyard and hit the 'G' key to bring up a menu which will allow you to analyze it, etc.