Overview
Boarding is a feature where Boarders attempt to take over a ship or station and gain control of the construct. The construct must be at under 30% HP in order for boarding to be available. You cannot board bosses (like MAD Science Mobile Energy Lab.)
To execute boarding, a ship must have a Hangar which has a Crew Shuttle that is being piloted by a Pilot. Each such Shuttle can hold up to 10 Boarders. The size of the Crew Shuttle determines how much space the vessel takes up in the hangar (e.g a Size 2 vessel takes up 2 spaces in a hangar)
Combat
When a ship or construct is under 30% HP, Boarding Squadrons will become available for use. When deployed, Crew Shuttles fly out of the hangars and drop off boarders onto the construct; the pilots and ships then return. The vessels can be destroyed while in transit just like any other small spacecraft.
When boarders board a ship, they will attempt to kill every crew member in the vessel. Security is the first defense, and the deadliest, although boarders are the strongest crew and can defeat an equal amount of security. After security has been eliminated, the rest of the crew is engaged, starting with untrained crew and going up to General*. It may be noted that officers are one of the most resilient crew available.
During the battle between crews, the ship takes damage.
While Boarders are fighting Security, the enemy ship is still able to function; It will still move and shoot.
Results
When a ship is captured, it joins the capturer's side. All items still on the ship (i.e did not get shot off during the main battle) will remain on the ship; Cargo, weapons and weapon systems remain on the ship. The crew will only consist of the boarders, and new crew contingent has to be transferred to the ship in order to use it. If the captured ship is scrapped or disassembled, much like with any other construct, all the present boarders will disappear as well.
When a station is captured, it turns into a 'defunct station'. A defunct station does not have the original function and acts like an immobile founding ship. The station must be re-founded, paying half the original cost (e.g it still costs 10.060.000 Cr to re-found a Repair Dock from capturing a Repair Dock, which costs 20.120.000 Cr to found from a founding ship), on top of any repair costs.
Another advantages for boarding stations are acquiring mines in a region without many to claim from a NPC faction or for example conquer an outpost to found a shipyard from a local pirate clan deeper within the galaxy without the need for diplomacy or a lot of hyperjump modules.
The shipyard in the "Investigate Missing Freighters" mission cannot be boarded.