Ranged Weapon Skill

[Susurrus]

OK, so I'm using my Ranged puppet. He's doing pretty good damage, but the wierd thing is, unless he's in melee distance to the enemy, every time he uses Arcuballista it says "XXX is too far away." Why does he stand back if he can't WS there and then tries using his WS anyway, just to get the too far away message? Seems like a waste to me.