Professionalism and Quality

Sayeth Tony:

Ship Morale: Ships would test for striking the colours when they lose a or
core system. Ships strike on the following roll;

        Grade 1:- 3,4,5,6
        Grade 2:- 4,5,6
        Grade 3:- 5,6
        Grade 4:- 6
        Grade 5:- 6 but only if life support is down.

** I prefer a better version of "strike the colours".
Treat it as a threshold (core system) - checks at +1. So first threshold
with a normal crew is ignored. First failure translates to "withdraw" -
ie, get the hell out. Can shoot on the way out but must either FTL or withdraw
at max accel in direciton directly away from the enemy. Fail a second time,
strike the colours and surrender. A ship that has a withdraw result but cannot
(is surrounded, can't FTL, has dead engines, etc) immediately escalates to
"strike the colours".

Modifiers:
Grade 1: -2. That is, check on the first threshold with a +1 to the
roll.
(5/6 fails)
Grade 2: -1. Check on the first threshold as normal.  (6 fails)
Grade 3: -. Check on second threshold (like core system). (6 fails, but
ignore 1st threshold)
Grade 4: +1. Check on third threshold. (6 fails, but ignore first 2
thresholds)
Grade 5: +2. Check on third threshold. (6 fails, but only if bridge out
or life support down)

<Note, grade 4 and 5 crews are unlikely to EVER just give up. They are likely
to only surrender if the ship is mostly inoperative and the hull mostly gone.
Otherwise, they'll keep on trying to pull victory from the ashes.>

I also think Tony's idea for how to balance leadership is a bit gross (no
offense). The addition of an entire extra move or firing sequence is quite
unbalancing. How about letting your captain change the final position of the
ship by its thrust instead, only in any direction? And how about letting one
weapons system fire?

Reliability comments were interesting, though I think charging full cost for
unreliable ships once a campaign is running is questionable.