I like them, they seem to make a campaign a little more varied, and such, make it seem a little more real. I mean, doing simple patrols and engaging in one or two ships every mission is good and all, but it gets repetitive after a while. Throwing in a few Non-combat missions makes it a little more interesting. I'd like a couple missions, though, where its actually detrimental to go to Red Alert right from the get go. Might make for some "interesting decisions" especially if not everyone is set to Mortal enemies in the dip settings. While an encounter between a Rom and Gorn would almost instantly start off by exchanging plasma torpedoes, Rom vs Hydran, or Gorn vs Lyran might not shoot at each other as a reflex action, if both ships pass by at Condition Green, they might be more likely to simply keep on going, or even trade a few goods. An occasional non-aligned encounter would be a boon for a Feddie to go in at Condition Green.