Hi,

400 would die in next boarding IIRC the paper manual.  Having twice or even better thrice  the amount of weapons compared to crew gives the crewmen a possibility to equip better weapons.  Kinda ship`s weapon locker reimagined.

Rgds, Oldtimer

Always have at least as weapons as total ship crew.  If you have fewer weapons than crew, those crew members above the weapon count automatically die in a boarding action.  Medicine is a bit more forgiving, because then it depends on the luck of whether a crew member needs it due to illness/injury, so you don't always need the exact amount of crew members, but it's better to have as much as you can and it doesn't take much cargo space.