VERY new to the game, and we're a bit confused about Initiative rules.

1. In the Squad Building Rules, it states that Initiative goes to the squad costing the least points first. Does that negate the skill level of all Captains in determining any future movement or combat initiatives? And at that point, is a Captain's skill level only used if there is some text on an upgrade or other card that references the skill level?

2. If I field a team of 2 smaller ships, and one of my opponents fields a team of one heavily tricked out ship, is there a rule that determines whether you use squad building rules for initiative versus Captain Skill levels for Initiative?

Thanks for the help!

No. Initiative does not negate skill levels of the captains. The initiative is only used to establish the activation order of captains of equal skill levels. Captains that have a skill level that no other captain in that game have is completely unaffected by initiative.

So if I have a squad of more than 1 ship whose total cost is 80 and one of my opponents has a squad of more than 1 ship whose total cost is 78, and one of my other opponents has a squad of more than 1 ship whose total cost is 77, the 77 point player will always move first and attack first per the squad moving rule that says "When using squad building rules, the ships belonging to the player with the lowest point total at the start of the game always have initiative." Does that mean the 77 point player will always have initiative, but uses the skill level of their captains to see which of their captains move and attack first within their own turn?

Captains will always move and attack in skill order (low to high for movement, high to low for attack). Initiative only comes in for ties. For example:

Player 1: 80 points, 2 Captains of Skill 9 and 5
Player 2: 78 points, 2 Captains of Skill 3 and 5
Player 3: 77 points, 2 Captains of Skill 6 and 5

The 3 skill Captain will always move first. Next up are the 5 Skill Captains: the 77 point player will go first, then 78, then 80. The 6 Skill will move after that, then the 9.

The Skill order reverses for attacks. The 9 Skill shoots first, then the 6. When you get to 5 Skill Captains, use initiative again: 77 point player, then 78, then 80. The 3 Skill shoots last.

Note that Initiative order does NOT reverse between the Move and Attack steps.

Thanks fillonius! So in squad build rules, total points determines skill-level ties. In non squad build rules, factions determine initiative in ties, not points. Is that correct?