Once again colonel Praxis is using the establishment strengths rather than the actual unit strengths.

As an example: a survey of the 4th Legion records reveals that their strength at the Battle of Tears was down by about 230 by this time.

I believe these 'southern irregulars' are the sylvan archers that were present for this grand battle.

From a total of 35,520 trained soldiers under Mobius at Hyrios the approximate breakdown was:

8,510 cavalry: 2,130 light cavalry, 4,780 heavy cavalry, 1,600 mounted infantry.

26,690 infantry: 16,500 light infantry, 5,950 heavy infantry, 4,240 archers.

320 artillerists: 18 catapults, 24 ballistae.

Some of these numbers demonstrate the weaknesses of the Darshak way of life.

Especially skilled or expensive to train or equip soldiers were present in very small numbers. Take a look at the comparative numbers (in footnote 24) and the Darshak figures for heavy cavalry, heavy infantry, archers, and also note how few siege engineers the Darshaks were able to bring with them.

The Darshaks outnumbered Mobius by well over 4 to 1. The margin for properly trained soldiers was 'merely' 1.7 to 1.

In a siege operation even 4 to 1 isn't considered to be a huge advantage - breaking in is still very difficult.

If the Darshak hadn't known about the threat of the Sentinels they probably would have left a holding force at Hyrios to keep Mobius pinned, and then continued their invasion southwards. As it was, they may have felt compelled to face Mobius there and then.

Alliance forces elsewhere counted close to another eighty thousand trained soldiers. Unfortunately none of these forces had been close enough at hand to participate in this battle