FB Boarding Factors?

Having finally gone through the ordeal of securing my copy of the
long-awaited Fleet Book (and what an ordeal it was.  Look for it as an
CBS movie of the week), I've got to say that I love it. I was wondering,
however, how you handle MT's Boarding Factors. Are they a direct extension of
Crew Factors (1CF=1BF) should I follow the MT guideline that there is 1BF for
each 4 remaining Damage points on the ship? The former seems a little thin,
but the later would indicate that Frail hulled ships have less Boarding
Parties than Strong hulled ships, even though they have the same amount of
crew. The obvious compromise would be to give 2.5 BF for every crew unit (1
CF=20 mass; 1 BF=8 mass; 1CF=2.5 BF), but that seems a little uneven for a
system that traditionally adopts simpler ratios. Any thoughts?

Take care,

> Donald A. Chipman III wrote:

They seem to be a direct extension of the crew-factor on new ships BUT
do keep in mind that the smaller ship needs a VERY lucky first roll or the
boarding party will find themselves splattered all over the inner airlock.
The new crew-factors do give one advantage - as casualties occur, you
can mark off crew factors who have been killed! Allowing multiple ships
to _gang up_ on a larger ship in one turn or over multiple turns & still
be able to win.

The infrequency of boarding actions in most FT games often makes this
redundant (I have never managed to successfully initiate a boarding action).

'Neath Southern Skies