MA T'ien Ch'i - a little of this, a little of that and BAM!

[Baalz]

Good point, but the other consideration (at least in this case) is you'll be fielding twice as many light horsemen compared to Imperial, so you're getting twice as many lance attacks at the expense of a falchion attack, and also an additional hoof attack which helps drop defense and knock armor off under iron bane. Don't get me wrong, the Imperials are much more effective in a more drawn out fight, but for the gold I think the light horsemen generally give a more devastating first contact. Plus, they get bows which they can fire before charging, which can be quite effective depending on the enemy.