would be better if specific cultures had random female units in their ranks too. women should be present in khuzait and sturgian armies (for instance, some of the khan guards in armies can spawn as women) but the rest of calradia should only be able to use the sword sisters.
so that way, both the token gets fulfilled and the historical authenticity is preserved
When it comes to historical authenticity of female troops for the 600-1100 time period in this region, we're talking such an
incredibly small scale that it would be most accurate to err on the side of not including them in the regular army at all.
The strongest case is for Aserai, as the early Muslim period has about 7 female fighters on record... In the entire 7th century, making them
not even 0.01% of all the 1,000,000s of men who fought during that time in that region. And that is the century where female fighters were the most common, due to the desperate circumstances of a new religion facing off against the collapsing Sassanian empire; afterwards, there are no Arabic female warriors.
Khuzait are based on the Mongols, Gokturks, Khazars, Kipchaks and Avars, who collectively have 5 scattered references to female warriors in about 500 years. So 1 per 100 years.
Sturgia in particular should not have female fighters if you want to preserve historical authenticity, as there is only one historical incident where the Kievan Rus' had women participate in combat, and that was a desperate breakout of starving defenders from the Siege of Dorostolon, where the Rus' needed everyone they could get.
To learn more about how the pop history meme of "shield maidens" has spread but there is no actual evidence for Viking women being regular combatants, just ask Judith Jesch, who is a scholar on the topic.
http://norseandviking.blogspot.com/2017/09/lets-debate-female-viking-warriors-yet.html?m=1
Female regular troops should just exist when the player goes out of their way to make it happen, like Sword Sisters did in Warband.
