Derelict had some fun BoE missions as well, none of which involved "just killing fighters to stay alive".
I hope you dont mean the battle with the civilians
I hated protecting the Sai
that had to be one of the most difficult missions I played
I didnt like it because the battle was BOE-ish yet the player still had a side goal
would have been better just to watch ships dish it out
I don't see why many people are opposed to BOE missions
as Mobius already pointed out, several retail mission were sort of BOE
in addition, it makes sense for FS2 to have BOE
FS2 is a space combat simulator, though obviously it places less importance on technical accuracy, and greater on emotional/feeling accuracy
therefore FS2 should simulate the emotions/feelings/action of a space fighter pilot
if two warring factions came into conflict, im sure they would pour as many resources on as they could to win the battle
this would result in a large number of capships and pilots
so the game should simulate the feelings of being one pilot among many in a huge chaotic battle
also, since when does one unit save the day every time
only in video games, and ones which are usually criticized for this (think the FPS genre)