I feel this is a rather foolish question to ask this far after the release of the game, but are natural 1s and natural 20s on the die roll automatic misses and hits when making gunnery checks during starship combat?
I had assumed "Yes," but whenever I prep a game session, I go back over the rules I expect to be using in that session and I sometimes come across something I may have misread, misinterpreted, or simply assumed worked the same way as it does in another game system.
Looking back over the rules for starship combat, I didn't see automatic misses and hits called out for gunnery checks the same way they're called out for attack rolls under combat basics in the tactical rules (and a cursory check of the rules forum and FAQ failed to find clarification).
So now I'm second-guessing myself and wondering if a gunnery check is more like a skill check than an attack roll when determining the success or failure of the die roll and I've been ruling these rolls wrong.
Natural 20 on the roll and damage to hull points results in auto critical effect to the ship's systems.
I'm not seeing anything else.
But, it is a gunnery 'check', and not a gunnery 'attack roll'. It seems like it might be like a skill check and not have auto successes and failures.
Against level appropriate challenges, a natural 1 will almost always miss and a natural 20 will almost always hit, so I'm not sure the difference is important.