...

At a distance of 6km from the target launch enough drones to be able to supress the shield regeneration of the target (3-8 for M6, 5-10 for M7 and 8-15 for M1/M2) and use the Autopilot>Command Console>Broadcast To My Ships In The Sector>Broadcast: Sector: Fighter Drones to order all drones to attack the target.   Launch enough Hammer Heavy Torpedoes/Shadow Missiles (use 1-3 Missile Barrage commands for larger targets)(takes about 2-3 missiles per GJ of shielding) to reduce the target shields to minimal values and destroy any heavy escorts.   Immediately switch to Flail/Ghoul Missiles and launch one every second at the target while also launching some at any nearby hostile fighters (this distracts the target turrets so the high damage missiles have a higher chance to hit).   Once the target shields are at <5% order the boarding M7M to use the Launch Marines command and keep launching a Flail/Ghoul Missile every second until the Boarding Pods make contact with the target.   Order any supporting boarding ship to jump to a nearby safe sector and turn away from the target and move away from it at the same speed the target moves (drones should keep the target shields fully supressed).   Once the player owned personnel reach the final deck turn around and use the Turbo Booster MK2 to get close to the target as it should belong to the player by the time the distance is closed.   Also order the fighter drones to Attack All Enemies in the sector to provide a distraction while the new ship is evacuated.   Exchange the Jumpdrive and Energy Cells to allow the target ship to get to safety and then either shoot a safe passage or get a spare Jumpdrive from a following ship and jump to a safer sector.   The ship best suited for this kind of boarding operation is the Split Cobra as it can out speed any targets that could threaten it.   Typical boarding operations of this kind can take up to 120 Flail Barrage Missiles, 80 Hammer Heavy Torpedoes (more Hammer Heavy Torpedoes in Xenon sectors) and 2-8 Boarding Pods.

...

1. The Approach: Save once the player has gotten within range of the target but before opening fire (in case it becomes a good idea to abandon the plan)
2. Ready to Board: Save once the target shields are down and before the personnel are launched for the boarding operation
3. Hull Contact Established: Save if all personnel make it to the hull.   This allows reloading until all personnel synchronise fighting on Deck 1 for lowest casualties (a must for Xenon ships)
4. Middle of Deck 1: Too late to change the fate of those fighting on Deck 1 but the outcome of Deck 2 has not yet been determined
5. Middle of Deck 2: Too late to change the fate of those fighting on Deck 2 but the outcome of Deck 3 has not yet been determined  
6. Middle of Deck 3: Too late to change the fate of those fighting on Deck 3 but the outcome of Deck 4 has not yet been determined  
7. Middle of Deck 4: Too late to change the fate of those fighting on Deck 4 but the outcome of Deck 5 has not yet been determined
8. We Are At The Computer Core: Save to be able to reroll what the new ship has ware wise once ownership is transferred (good for getting Jump Beacons)
9. Victory: Save once both the captured ship and player ship are evacuated to a safe location    

Boarding Operation Mechanics Mechanics

Personnel Training

Ship Innate Boarding Resistance Table

...

• Rapid Response M7M ships will waste their personnel by launching it in spawned Boarding Pods at they spawn with at any enemy boardable ship that loses shielding.   If these missiles are shot down by the player they have a 50% chance to drop several 4-5 star Marine personnel for the player to collect.  This makes the south gate of Circle of Labour a good early source of highly trained personnel (assuming the Argon are not shooting holes in the player ship).
• Cloudbase South East, Montalaar, Heaven's Assertion, Great Reef, Ocean of Fantasy and Senator's Badlands (add more) are good sectors for boarding TLs since there is almost always a TL present and seldom more than 3 fighters to defend the sector.
• Use Return Ship and Return Abandoned Ship missions to train the fighting skill of personnel (can spawn M6/M7 ships if the player has a Trade Rank of (insert)).