Federation Commander

(8CM98d) tells us how to calculate the score for Lyran excessive losses, but nowhere in the scenario do I see how many points are required to drive off the Lyrans.

Yup, and there is nothing in the context to give you an idea of what that number should be. Hopefully Steve will see this and give us the number.

Well, they are playtest scenarios.

No idea. I'll let Mike pick a number.

I am thinking 45 points.

I figure the high mark would be for the Peladine to cripple all of the Lyrans (or destroy half of them) for a total of 60 points. That would be hard on the Peladine, so it makes a good high marker. However, cutting that in half is probably too low, as that means the Peladine would only have to destroy three Lyrans to survive. That would make deploying the destroyers and frigates much harder for the Lyrans. So, that is probably a good low marker.

Splitting those two gives the 45 points. This means the Peladine would have to destroy half of the small ships, and still cripple one more ship (or get damage on five more ships). That would be a pretty steep challenge, but is definitely possible. On the Lyran side that probably seems really low (who cares if four frigates are destroyed while subjugating the Peladine?), but with the Lyran politics, and substantial fleet loss like that could end up costing the noble running this adventure politically, as a neighbor takes advantage of their weakened state.

So, unless someone else has a compelling reason to move it up or down, let's go with 45.

Also, consider that an unwritten variant: Bid on the number of points. You could bid up, where the one who wins the bid has to take the Peladine with the high bid, or you can bid down, where the one who wins the bid has to take the Lyrans with the low bid. Regardless, that is still the easiest balancing factor, by simply adjusting the point threshold in favor of the disadvantaged player.