Some of my marines are noobs.

[Aidyer]

I fire around 30 marines at any capital ship at once, about 8 of them always jump off the ship when they get through the hull.

They are all level 100 in everything but fighting.

Why is this?

[Sabrina Bergin]

the max you can use is 20 at a time.

[Aidyer]

the max you can use is 20 at a time.

No kidding, why can missile frigates hold 30 marines if the max is 20? I did just try using 20 and I'm not sure what happened but only three of my marines made it aboard

[Sabrina Bergin]

For Xenon Capitals you need at least fifteen by the time they reach the computer so you have to keep feeding more marines onto the ship.

Successful boarding requires well trained marines 4-5 stars in each field especially fighting. you also need to make sure you keep the targets turrets distracted so he does not shoot down your people.

PS Use pods for grater boarding chances. Space Boarding is a turkey shoot.

[Aidyer]

For Xenon Capitals you need at least fifteen by the time they reach the computer so you have to keep feeding more marines onto the ship.

That sounds like an absolute massacre! I only have 100 marines, I don't want to burn through them too quickly. Does marine padding (Using some low-quality marines with the 5 stars) work? If so, how can I do it effectively?

Successful boarding requires well trained marines 4-5 stars in each field especially fighting. you also need to make sure you keep the targets turrets distracted so he does not shoot down your people.

PS Use pods for grater boarding chances. Space Boarding is a turkey shoot.

I'll take that turret advice and get some cheap fighters. Maybe I can save the ones that jump off now! Thanks

[RayF]

first,
the OP said nothing about xenon. Xenon ships are the exception of the rule. If you are talking about Xenon please let us know.

Second,
as you have been told, you are not supposed to fire more than 21 marines at once. Anything more is dead meat.
If we are talking about xenon capitals, you launch marines in waves.
Or, the somehow cheatty way for some (In TC dont know about AP) you can take a ship with no casualties with few reloads.

[Sabrina Bergin]

That exploit does work in AP and I can see why after spending days of in game time getting the marines trained up not to mention the expense. it is used. As to the OP's question you need as many high ranking marines as you can manage to send leaving just a few half trained to gain experience/rank amongst them. even half trained marines are an expensive loss.
Personally I would never risk a fifty plus level in combat marine unless he was fully trained in all other skill to give him a chance to survive and increase his combat rank.

[Honved]

You need to train your marines to a passable level in Engineering to limit collateral damage. I usually boost it to around 50 for a "newbie" with only average fighting skills or less. Between the veterans with higher skills and the half-training that the recruits receive, it's generally enough to limit collateral damage to "acceptable" levels, unless you're trying for an Aran or a Xenon ship, in which case you don't want "newbies" at all.

Only the highest two marines in each group of 5 are used to calculate the group's Mechanical proficiency, in order to cut through the hull. I train at least 50% of my marines in Mechanical to at least 50, and any with high combat skills up to 90 or better. You don't need to train every last marine to 100; it provides no benefit unless less than half the team even makes it to the target.

Only the top two marines out of all the boarding parties sent are counted for hacking the core. I only train about 25% of my marines in Hacking, usually the ones with the best combat skills who are likely to survive to the end. Training more than half of your marines in this skill is even more of a waste.

Once they've achieved the kind of combat skill that increases their odds of survival and makes them worth the investment, I boost both Engineering and Mechanical to 90+, and consider whether or not I need more Hackers as well.

Training every marine to 100 in everything, while their combat skills are 30, is frequently a case of throwing credits away, unless you're into reloading 15-20 times to get it "right".

[Sabrina Bergin]

Honved, I agree with your numbers but I get all gushy when I look at the personnel stats and see row after row of five stars. plus its more symmetrical to look at from a purely aesthetic point of view.