[geoschmo]

Originally posted by Grandpa Kim:I'm playing a solo game at home. I just sent three newly constructed capture ships after three lone enemy ships (three separate battles). As it turned out all the enemy ships had SDD. There are now six less ships in the universe. My ships attempted boarding without hesitation after using their shield depleters to bring down the shields.

Its this type of inconsistency that drives me nuts. One person says black, the other say white and they are both right!

Kim

Mea Culpa Grandpa Kim. I was incorrect when I made that statement before. I was going by something I had seen in a game a few weeks ago, and I just figured out that what was really happening is the attacking ships were not attempting to board because the defending ship had security stations, not because of the SDD. As you have seen they will attack in spite of SDD, and both will be destroyed.

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
Were you fighting a Psychic race, by any chance? Or perhaps a Cruiser or larger?

Psychic races get double the normal boarding defense, and swashbucklers are not very strong.

Sj this is incorrect. Psychics do not get any advantage in boarding or defense against boarding. Unless you are talking about something specific to a mod? If so how were you able to do this?

I have done some analysis and come up with the following definitive results regarding boarding:

• Ships will calculate the "attack strength" of boarding parties and "defense strength" of target ship, and will not attempt to board if they cannot achieve success.
• Boarding ship will achieve success if attack strength is greater than OR equal too defense strength of target ship.
• Attack strength of boarding ship is total number of Space Marines of all Boarding party components on ship.
• Defense strength of target ship is total turrets from security stations + total strength of boarding party components (used for defense) + 20 for each crew quarter component.
• Master Computers, Life Support, Bridge, Aux Control, and troops in cargo offer no assistance to Defense strength of target ship.
• Ship size does not factor into Boarding defense, other than the fact that larger ships require more crew quarters.
• Increasing the size or structure of crew quarters through a mod has no effect on boarding defense. Their strength is 20 per component, regardless.
• Racial characteristics do not appear to have any effect on calulation of boarding succes, for either attacker or defender. (85% sure on this Last point)
  

I do not have any idea whether or not the various racial faciliites that offer bonuses to weapon damage in system have any effect. I would guess not, but I have not confirmed it.
Hope this helps.
Geoschmo

[ October 27, 2002, 21:23: Message edited by: geoschmo ]