So during my first fight, I blew off my enemy's only weapon. and he appears to have become helpless as he can no longer attack. Finishing off weapons if there are few seems to be a fairly optimal strategy as combat breaks without weapons. I'd recommend having some kind of melee attack there in these cases and have a way for enemies to react to it. I'll post the stats I ended with by the time that happened.
Pilot - 3
Engineer - 4
Diplomat - 4
Food - 8
Frame - BLD Strider
HP: 20/35
Speed: 6-5=1
W. Slots: 2
Weapon: sm-7i Popper ; M.Gun; 2d6; 9 HP; Speed: 2
Weapon: Newton Z-R Grenade Launcher; Rocket; 3d6; 14 HP; Speed: 3