I would leave the big hit chits in myself. They add to much excitement to the games to pull them out. I can say as a player, I was rather bummed to have lost my 90% intact 1st rate to lose of crew. While the crew damage track is longer on the 1st rates, it's still a one for one exchange since burden is not account for. I'm thinking there might not be enough resolution in this area to really make the different ships stand apart.