Outfit[]
A marine firing an assault rifle with an IDA Frigate in the background
"The leader of these hard-looking men tells you that he is capable of increasing your chances of capturing any vessel enormously.
"And we don't need continuous cash flow," he explains in his deep voice as his men watch on with casual alertness. "We have all the equipment we need, and we take small amounts of profit by foraging on every ship we board."
A Marine Platoon is a group of fierce, highly-trained assault troops who specialize in boarding disabled ships and capturing them. You can hire a marine platoon by purchasing their services from an outfitter. Marine units are self-contained; they provide their own financial and logistical support by foraging. By adding more platoons, you can give yourself a better chance of capturing even the largest, most heavily manned vessels.
Gameplay[]
Marine Platoons increase a ship's crew count by 25 for purposes of capturing vessels. For an in-depth breakdown of the boarding formula, see the Matt Burch explanation.
A maxxed out contigent of Marine Platoons will set you back 2.7M and increase your crew by 450. This should be effective for capturing ships with up to 225 crew.