Well, the first tries with the free for all with capture were close, but with some problems.
Basically, we were able to send troops over and capture, but once a ship was captured, wierd things happened. In 2 of the 3 test battles we tried, the player whose ship was captured experienced a crash to desktop. In the other battle, one ship was captured (the player had 2 ships), and play continued on fine, with the computer running the captured ship.
Maybe, the game script doesn't know what to do with a ship when its captured. Perhaps, a captured ship could just move off the board at that time and flee the battle. Or perhaps have the computer fight for the race/team that just captured it. And if a player had no ships left (all captured or destroyed), his role in the battle would end (just like all of his ships were destroyed in the traditional free for all without capture).
NW, thanks for the efforts. I'll be away on business for a few days, but I've got to tell you this is exciting stuff for our household!! Thanks.
KC