diff --git a/crates/helm-bv/src/battle.rs b/crates/helm-bv/src/battle.rs
index f8ce9d0..e2bca54 100644
--- a/crates/helm-bv/src/battle.rs
+++ b/crates/helm-bv/src/battle.rs
@@ -37,10 +37,19 @@
 //! location is ever destroyed - the frame is chewed to one point and no
 //! further, which also means no limb is ever blown off - the head is left
 //! alone below its plate, the engine takes at most one hit of the three that
-//! destroy it and the gyro one of the two, and the walk stops before the
-//! offensive rating falls below half of what the design started with. That
-//! last one is the real test: a Mek with its guns shot away is a wreck to be
-//! recovered, not a unit somebody is being asked to field.
+//! destroy it and the gyro one of the two, and a machine always keeps
+//! something it can fire.
+//!
+//! Guns do come off, and should: shooting one off is often the shortest way
+//! down to a figure, and a lance where one Mek lost its PPC and kept its
+//! lasers is a better fight than four machines with evenly thinned plate.
+//! What is refused is the end of that - a machine with nothing left to fire,
+//! or with less than a quarter of what it could throw, which is a tow rather
+//! than a unit.
+//!
+//! Joints are left alone for the opposite reason: a shoulder, a hip or an
+//! actuator carries no battle value at all, so shooting one off would hand
+//! somebody a machine much weaker than the figure they asked for.
 //!
 //! Magazines are never hit either. One taking a critical explodes, and without
 //! CASE that is the end of the machine - and it is the only hit that can raise
@@ -63,8 +72,16 @@ pub struct Battle {
     /// Percent of hits that come from behind, which is where a torso's thin
     /// rear plate matters.
     pub from_behind: u64,
-    /// How much of its offensive rating a machine must keep. Below this it is
-    /// a recovery job rather than a unit somebody can field.
+    /// How much of what it could throw a machine must keep.
+    ///
+    /// Shooting a gun off is often the best way down to a figure, and a lance
+    /// where one Mek lost its PPC and still has its lasers is a more
+    /// interesting fight than four machines with evenly thinned plate. What
+    /// this stops is the other end: a machine with nothing left worth firing
+    /// is a tow, not a unit somebody was asked to field.
+    ///
+    /// Whatever this is set to, a design always keeps *something* that can
+    /// fire - see [`wear_in_battle`].
     pub keep_offense: f64,
 }
 
@@ -74,7 +91,7 @@ impl Default for Battle {
             seed: 1,
             focus: 35,
             from_behind: 20,
-            keep_offense: 0.5,
+            keep_offense: 0.25,
         }
     }
 }
@@ -131,9 +148,8 @@ pub fn wear_in_battle(
     battle: &Battle,
 ) -> Result<Worn, Unsupported> {
     let whole = crate::battle_value_in(unit, catalogue, &Condition::undamaged())?;
-    let fresh_offense = crate::terms_in(unit, catalogue, &Condition::undamaged())?
-        .offensive
-        .total;
+    let fresh = crate::terms_in(unit, catalogue, &Condition::undamaged())?.offensive;
+    let (fresh_offense, fresh_weapons) = (fresh.total, fresh.weapons);
     let mut best = Worn {
         condition: Condition::undamaged(),
         value: whole,
@@ -165,10 +181,16 @@ pub fn wear_in_battle(
             continue;
         };
         let terms = crate::terms_in(unit, catalogue, &condition)?;
-        // A machine that can no longer shoot is not one to field. The hit that
-        // took it there is undone, so the answer is always a machine that
-        // could still fight.
-        if terms.offensive.total < fresh_offense * battle.keep_offense {
+        // Guns come off - it is often the best way down to a figure, and it is
+        // what makes one machine in a lance interesting rather than four with
+        // evenly thinned plate. What is refused is the end of that: a machine
+        // with nothing left to fire, or with so little left that it is a tow
+        // rather than a unit. The hit that would do it is undone, so what
+        // comes back is always something somebody could take onto a board.
+        // An IndustrialMek that never carried a weapon has none to lose, and
+        // guarding one it does not have would make it undamageable.
+        let disarmed = fresh_weapons > 0.0 && terms.offensive.weapons <= 0.0;
+        if disarmed || terms.offensive.total < fresh_offense * battle.keep_offense {
             field.undo();
             continue;
         }
@@ -389,6 +411,13 @@ impl Field {
             if is_ammo(what) {
                 continue;
             }
+            // An actuator or a hip is worth no battle value at all and is
+            // worth a great deal in play - a wrecked hip halves what a Mek can
+            // walk. Hitting one would hand somebody a machine much weaker than
+            // the figure they asked for, which is the opposite of the job.
+            if is_actuator(what) {
+                continue;
+            }
             candidates.push(at);
         }
         let Some(&at) = rng.choose(&candidates) else {
@@ -475,6 +504,15 @@ fn is_gyro(what: &str) -> bool {
     what.contains("Gyro")
 }
 
+/// A joint: shoulders, hips and the actuators between them.
+///
+/// Legitimate targets in the game and useless ones here. None of them carries
+/// any battle value, so shooting one off cripples a machine without moving the
+/// figure it is being worn down to.
+fn is_actuator(what: &str) -> bool {
+    what.contains("Actuator") || what.contains("Shoulder") || what.contains("Hip")
+}
+
 /// A magazine, which does not take a critical hit and leave a live Mek.
 fn is_ammo(what: &str) -> bool {
     what.contains("Ammo")