[PvK]

Originally posted by licker:
Here's one other consideration (I think) when discussing a standing army vs. the PD. You don't pay upkeep on PD, and when PD wins, all losses are regenerated. Actually I'm not 100% sure on either of those, but I'm like 99% sure ...

100% correct, and quite important.

As others have said, the nation makes a big differece - some are better than others, and some have specific levels that are good. IIRC you only get arbalesters with Ulm, up to level 19. At 20 you get a leader, but he usually doesn't fight. At 21+, you get men in chainmail with shields, who are great against most threats and complement the arbalests well (buying them time to reload and fire again before getting overrun), but now it's getting expensive to get them, and having a squad of them is much more effective than having one or two, so there is reason with Ulm to go up to the mid-twenties or higher, but it's a big investment which may not be worth it, particularly in a multiplayer game. The goofy truism "the best defense is a good offense" is often somewhat worth reflecting upon.

PvK