Definitely. I’ve fought some of the NPCs in your books and I made a few of my own. My 2nd level militia guys with spears and shields go down fast, although they can do some serious harm. I like how a low-level threat can still be dangerous. Part of the reason I’m doing this is to build PCs and see how they work against equal opponents with different feat combos. I suspect standard 3.5 characters would kill each other in about 3 rounds. There are just not much in the way of tactics in 3.5. Power attack, full attack.. kind of boring actually. The character building is all about maximizing AC, HP, attack bonus, and damage. I like how in your system a rich baron could arm villagers with polearms and good armor and have a decent fighting force.
Yeah both skill and equipment are important. If the villagers have some fighting experience (reflected by at least 2 or 3 MP) with good armor and weapons they could be dangerous. Conversely, a 6th level soldier with five or six MF, even just a knife and no armor could also be dangerous. And getting ganged up on is definitely a major problem.
Regarding armor, armor piercing weapons help. Those +3 or +4 AP bonus don’t sound like much but in practice it means you can start causing serious injuries unless they are wearing very strong armor.
