My first Xenon (K) successful boarding operation, an interesting one

[Thunders]

Today I decided that I should put my two squads of ace marines to hard work while a third one is being trained at an EQ dock.

I tried capturing a Q in the Xenon sector north of Getsu Fune and, although I was ready with both my Cobras, failed miserably all 4 attempts, most of which ended with the first batch of marines getting slaughtered on 1 deck or, in the best case, on deck 3 within. Of course, the second batch died pretty much the same way, with casualties ranging from 6 to 20 (deck 1 for the latter).

And so I grew tired (and annoyed) of that, reloaded, barraged that damn Q to dust and jumped to the Xenon sector in Terran space.

There I blew up everything within triplex scanner range except a Xenon K which proved quite annoying to board, although my marines seemed to survive a lot more than in the case of the previously-mentioned Q. In the last attempt at boarding the K (fifth, I think), I launched a Hammer torpedo every 4% shielding (K's shield generators are crappy for an M2), launched the squad from the backup Cobra while my own was the bait and made sure I was ready to launch reinforcements pod by pod (not using the piracy option).
I kept watching the Personnel window, waiting for imminent and, as any X3TC gamer would expect, heavy casualties. And I waited and waited and waited... but that squad's remaining 19 marines just wouldn't give up.
They took every deck and hacked its computer core.

If I had fewer assets/ships/cash/marines, I would have probably fallen off my chair: I had just taken a K with 19 marines without reinforcements.

The prize and the soon to be reverse-engineered Xenon K:

[ external image ]

What do you think? Was it just luck? A fluke?

My theory is that Xenon Sector is as profitable for boarding Xenon ships as Asteroid Belt is for boarding ATF/Terran ones.

[Alan Phipps]

A nice capture.

It is your attack force fight total versus the ship defence value (ship + job baseline then influenced slightly by the RNG) on each deck, tested with a further RNG deciding factor thrown in as well. There is a pass/fail survival test just before the hack too.

So while you decide the initial attack value, the situation and RNG (twice) decide the defence value per deck. Any success is therefore a matter of luck but you can improve the probabilities through preparation, planning and management. Of course, success using at least a suitable attack force can be guaranteed if you are prepared to keep reloading for as long as it takes.

[cj-spartacus]

Congratulations on your capture!

I still haven't attempted a xenon boarding op yet. I have 20 marines with 100 in all 4 skills that take every yaki and pirate vessel I attempt without a casualty and 117 marines with 100 in all trainable skills and at least 40 in fighting.

Should I train up a 2nd squad to 100 in fighting before I even try for a Q?

[Thunders]

Should I train up a 2nd squad to 100 in fighting before I even try for a Q?

Yes, you should. 5-star-in-everything marines are the only kinds of marines that can take on Xenon ships.

I still can't believe I took only one casualty.

[Sovereign01]

And make sure you send 21 marines at 100 in everything, you need every edge you can get. I managed to cap a K, after taking a Q and a J- none of which were easy, after saving between decks and reloading as necessary I managed to take all of them with no casualties. Now all 3 are sitting in my hub sector until I figure out what to do with them

[SIMON POPPLEWELL]

Congrats Thunders, I envy you!. My ownly attempt at boarding a Xenon ship was against a Q with 30 marines, ownly managed to get 7 marines to the core on every attempt.

[deca.death]

nice catch, congrats.

btw I've heard similar story when someone here tried to board some atf m2, it proved almost impossible, then he tried in a frustration previous save and picked other ship of same type (there were few of them) an succeeded with no problems. i also had great difiiculties with certain m6 sized ships with no logical explanation why.

seems that certain -ships- are easier to board then others. have that in mind, you big game hunters.

[Thunders]

I've heard similar story when someone here tried to board some atf m2, it proved almost impossible

I have yet to run into a Tyr (or an Odin, Aegir or Skirnir) in Asteroid Belt that has the Hull Polarization Device. He should have hunted one there.

[cmdnenad]

Congratulations!

I also want one , but my marines have a lot more training to do before I give it a try. Couldn't even board a Tokyo (with HPD). Fortunately I was able to pick them all up alive...

[Thunders]

Unless you wanted to get that Tokyo to sell it, you could have just bought one.

[Starlight_Corporation]

Congratulations on the capture! The K is an interesting ship for sure Both to build at the PHQ as to pilot it.
I have one myself and so far it remains my only succesful xenon boarding. Not because he was easy mind you, had to reload a few times & send in regular reinforcements to get him.

[cmdnenad]

Unless you wanted to get that Tokyo to sell it, you could have just bought one.

I bought it, but it's more fun getting one for free.

[JoeVN09]

Nice job, Thunders. Any chance of you posting a review of some sort when you have a K ready for use? I'd love to know how that thing flies but I'm nowhere near the level of being able to board one yet, let alone have the resources to RE it.

[Thunders]

My RE queue at the moment is something along the lines of Skirnir (~60%), Pirate Buster Hauler, Iguana Vanguard, Mercenary Hades and Xenon K and I still have an Akuma, a Galleon, a Carrack and a Brigantine hanging unshielded around my PHQ waiting to become blueprints.

I think I'll move the K to next-in-line after the Skirnir but, after constructing the last ~12 of 44 Fenrirs, I'll first build an Odin and then a K.

We could really use an item (unlockable through a plot) that, once obtained, speeds up the constructing of ships at the PHQ. Doesn't anyone else want to literally churn out ships from their HQ than have to wait 2 days to build an acquirable carrier which you might as well lose in some OOS combat with an "overpowering" Xenon Q?

[Alan Phipps]

I think that 'item' is called having trading rights at an NPC shipyard. It has the same effect as the one you wanted for most acquirable ships of the respective races once you are friendly enough - and you probably won't have to go looking for Equipment Docks to fit them out with extensions.

[Thunders]

But no one sane would build "common" ships instead of just buying them.

Because of the slow-as-snail PHQ ships construction speed I'm reluctant to bring one of my Colossus carriers and its 60 Falcon Sentinels to a fight, whether it's in or out of sector. Replacing losses would be a pain...

[Alan Phipps]

Agreed. Which is why I would never build a fleet of 60 non-buyable Falcon Sentinels, but instead fill my carriers with cheap and/or easily replaced/captured M3/+ fighters and accept the odd loss without fuss. I would also never allow a carrier itself to get within range of a Q or worse if I could help it. When they deploy, I either keep an eye on them or have them protected by extensive and capable screens and patrols while they deploy fighters in support.

[Sovereign01]

I've heard similar story when someone here tried to board some atf m2, it proved almost impossible

I have yet to run into a Tyr (or an Odin, Aegir or Skirnir) in Asteroid Belt that has the Hull Polarization Device. He should have hunted one there.

ATF ships are impossible to board without pods, same goes for Atmo lifters. And even if you have pods, if it has the Hull device, forget it! If you have the improved boarding script, you can at least get your marines onboard the ship via the transporter. Of course you still need to take out the target's shields