armagan, i think, posted in another thread, that each point in battle advantage YOU have before the battle, changes beginning sizes of both opposing armies from the standard (12 or 13 max i think).
if the odds are 2 for you, it would be: river pirates 10, you 14.
if the odds would be -1 (so in favour of the courageous pirates), it would be:
river pirates 13, you 11.
clear now?
ah, and also, sides get an advantage, if they are considerable larger than the enemy. using mag7, my magnificient 7 rowdies of the universe always fight with odds -2 (against us) against 20+ river pirates, though we all know the outcome beforehand, dont we

?
i recall, armagan saying, it was something like this: you 7 people, enemy 7: 0
you 7, enemy 14: -1
you 7, enemy 21: -2
and so on.
but i could be very well very wrong here. i remember fighting hill orcs (erm...i mean mountain bandits), 30 of em. with my 9 men, and only having -2 (i have 1 skill point in tacticts, only 2 have an effect). but it could also be that the mountain bandits have an "intrinsic" tactics modifier.
assuming they have 0 skill points in tactics, versus my 1 (which i assumed before doesnt do ANYTHING, but still i consider it here), it could be like this:
30:9 would mean -3.
if i had 2 skill points in tactics, would be : -2 (27 +3(rest) against 9)
i have 1, so it could be like:
well. i lost it somewhere on the way.
gtg, what i wanted to point out was, that even only 1 skill point in tactics could make a difference. ssheeesshh
P.S. he who read all of this and still doesnt grasp the grist, fear not! for you are not the only one...