I am doing something a bit similar to what your doing just trying to keep the game going as long as possibly thats why I left Haelmar to help Swadia's claimant overthrow his mad brother makes for a great story. My army for swadia consist of mainly crossbowman with just a few sharpshooters and infantry supporting them my companions are my cavalry, but what surprised me most was how dangerous the swadian crossbowman where a group these guys can plow bolts into the enemy like no tomorrow have to say thanks to khan for the suggestion. Crossbowman =cheap and cheap = dead bodies on the ground