Port Raid Mission - bug or undocumented feature?

[TheDread]

Heya...  We thought we were being clever on the Port Raid mission...  and tried it with a handful of small ships - planning to kite the fleet and board the indiaman...  and that part worked swimmingly, but we couldn't take control of the indiaman after boarding.   The x didn't appear...  and everyone in the battle came to a complete stop right next to it and tried...  so it wasn't a 'someone did the most damage' situation.   

I have a SUSPICION that you can't actually capture that ship until the AI defenders are dead?  Can someone confirm that's how the mechanic works and how it's supposed to?

[GrubbyZebra]

24 minutes ago, TheDread said:

Heya...  We thought we were being clever on the Port Raid mission...  and tried it with a handful of small ships - planning to kite the fleet and board the indiaman...  and that part worked swimmingly, but we couldn't take control of the indiaman after boarding.   The x didn't appear...  and everyone in the battle came to a complete stop right next to it and tried...  so it wasn't a 'someone did the most damage' situation.   

I have a SUSPICION that you can't actually capture that ship until the AI defenders are dead?  Can someone confirm that's how the mechanic works and how it's supposed to?

 

That is correct. You must kill the AI defenders to be able to capture the Indiaman. 

Here is the post where the mechanics are explained:
 

 

Edited February 26, 2020 by GrubbyZebra

[z4ys]

 

[GrubbyZebra]

45 minutes ago, z4ys said:

 

thanks, I was trying to remember who had posted that thread, but couldn't.

[z4ys]

1 hour ago, GrubbyZebra said:

thanks, I was trying to remember who had posted that thread, but couldn't.

Were you able to leave the battle before the battle timer of the whole duration run out?

[GrubbyZebra]

47 minutes ago, z4ys said:

Were you able to leave the battle before the battle timer of the whole duration run out?

@TheDread was the one who was asking the original question.

[TheDread]

Yes, we were able to leave after it became clear we weren't getting the indiaman.   In retrospect, probably should have stayed in just to make sure the rules didn't change if timer ran out?

[z4ys]

3 hours ago, TheDread said:

Yes, we were able to leave after it became clear we weren't getting the indiaman.   In retrospect, probably should have stayed in just to make sure the rules didn't change if timer ran out?

You can't access the Indiaman in the 15 min time window before it kicks you to ow (battle over) too when you haven't sunk the other Ai ships. We tried that. I don't believe that changed