So just started playing in earnest and enjoying it immensely. I have gotten to the final sector on Easy but have yet to make it through. Just a question on crew composition... No other ships but the starter Krestal, so all my thoughts based on that.

I find 4 crew to be a pretty good compliment. Pilot, Shields, Weapons, and Engineer. Using the engineer followed by pilot for most of my repairs (in general) and the pilot for doors in boarding situations. Crew race not withstanding, does anyone usually have a lot more crew members for any particular reason, or use them to man other stations for a bonus? I understand there are a zillion iterations of this based on whats throw at you, just looking for your general preferred setup at the start with maybe a store visit thrown in.

I don't think there's any reason to not have a full ship by the end of the game. In addition to the primary systems, there is the sensor bonus, and doors bonus which are useful in certain situations. I also tend to play with a boarding party since you get a salvage bonus if you don't destroy ships but instead take out the crew. For repairs and repelling boarders, it is also great to have extra guys around. I'm not aware of any score bonus associated with a smaller crew, so I say the more the merrier!

I consider four crew to be the minimum for a ship like the Kestrel. You are better off using whoever is manning shields for repairs. After that, it's a toss-up between weapons & engineer depending on what you are facing. The pilot should never be pulled in ship-to-ship combat. Unless, you are talking when there is no enemy ship.

Extra crew is great for dealing with boarders, repairs and what are effectively free upgrades for doors & sensors. Though that won't give you any blue options. Ideally, you would have max allowed crew at the end though it's certainly not necessary to win.

I didnt realize there was a max crew... I have always been floating along with the minimum and havent explored much in the crew department as I was usually fine blowing holes in other ships. So what is the max? Is it like six and I am not far behind or is it something huge like 12?

I repeated more of what apeman.752 had said than I realized, though. From ship upgrades screen click on the crew tab and count the slots (8). If you already have eight crew then you will be forced to pick one to dismiss. Often that will be the new crewmen.

Thanks. Last night I went ahead and started a new game (basic, easy) and went full crew with the intention of boarding. Walked through for the first time! Was considerably easier playing with all the tools at my disposal ;).

Lost my fully trained two man Mantis boarding party literally the last jump to the final sector. I nerd raged for a good while about that. Damn ship fell apart in a asteroid field before I could beam them off. Replaces them in a store on the flagship level but it just wants to same without Tomax and Xamot...

Final Ship
Pretty much all systems maxed, at the end I was just throwing scrap at anything just to spend it.
Defense Drone 1
Crew Teleporter
Auto Reloader
Long range sensors
Shields 4
Blaster 2
Blaster 1
Halberd Beam

Dropped the Flagship shields with the blasters then concentrated on hitting as many rooms as possible with the beam for max hull damage. Was a lot of fun. Ended up with about 5 hull left when he finally went. Never boarded him, just concentrated on repelling boarders and keeping repairs up with my extra crew.

I always initially board him at least once assuming I have the teleporter & crew to do so. Congratulations! Now you're ready for Normal. Actually, if you can reach Sector 8 on Easy, you were already ready.

More crew is always useful, but each crew is less important than the last (going from 1->2 crew is a MASSIVE gain; going from 7->8 is a nice bonus). It's always good to have more people around to help with repairs, fires, or boarders.

Order of manning importance is generally: Piloting > Engines > Weapons > Doors > Shields > Sensors. Your Pilot should very rarely leave during a fight, because that will drop your evasion to 0% (or a low amount if you have upgraded Piloting). Having Engines manned gives you a nice 5% evasion bonus, or 10% fully trained. Weapons getting a 10-20% cooldown reduction can be huge, depending on your weapons (and even stronger with a Reloader).

Manned Shields often do nothing, but are occasionally very nice. They're strongest to have manned against asteroids and drones. In most cases I'd rather have the extra door strength against boarders and fires, though, especially on Hard where it can be difficult to spend the money on upgrading them directly. You can also always move your crewmember manning doors over to Shields as appropriate.