On the topic of secondary weapons. EVERYONE had a large knife, if nothing else, as a weapon. From the kid on the street begging for change, to the gentry, everyone would have a knife. So, I see no reason to at least toss a dagger onto every soldier who's using a hafted weapon. (Unless that slot is reserved for ammo. )
Oh, and as a side note... WTF are you guys talking about with difficulty? Most of the settings for "difficulty" have nothing to do with how your troops fight, only with how they compare against you... or issues completely unrelated to the battle! Most of "difficulty" is just the damage percentages involving the PC, and troop AI which evens out anyhow. (In fact, the only things I've found myself doing differently between the extremes is that I stop getting off my horse in tournaments after dismounting everyone, as a matter of honor... cause... screw em, I had one horse to, and I'm not the first person up the ladder, since the first person gets hit with a javelin in the face. )