Nargott
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Having analyzed various wargames in terms of the balance of power, I came to the conclusion that the standard balance of power of "40 militia = 24 archers = 15 swordsmen = 6 knights" is generally justified (provided that the swordsmen and knights are elite units).
However, there is another ratio, namely the ratio of knights to a dragon (a top-tier creature), which, according to various sources, ranges from 20:1 to 60:1. This kind of scaling is used to create epic battles, where there are numerous squads (hundreds and thousands of warriors) on one side and single epic monsters (dragons, giants) on the other. A distinctive feature of such battles is their high difficulty and duration (due to managing a large number of units), as well as the prevalence of maneuvers and formations.
In the Heroes game mechanics, however, everything is different and much simpler. It is possible to convey maneuvers (as is done in the WGE mod), but it is impossible to convey formations, because even a numerous squad of militia occupies only 1 small cell. In addition, in the Heroes game mechanics, even 1 warrior is a tactical unit, not to mention the fact that the hero himself is capable of killing entire squads. Plus, archers can shoot across the entire field. Plus, perks tailored for small numbers (like deadly cold). Plus, the ship's capacity, which limits the number of troops for transport to 100-200 fighters (as we remember, the battle on ships is fought with 1 ship on each side). All this indicates that the Heroes combat is based on the "adventure" role-playing model (remember Kings Bounty), battles with small squads, and in no way reaches full-scale battles by any criterion. From a gameplay point of view, this is a plus, because full-scale battles take a lot of time and, in reality, happen rarely, and in the game, the player wants to fight every turn.
That is, due to the game mechanics, it is impossible to compete in the epicness of battles with wargames; the niche of Heroes is something in between role-playing tactics (personal clashes of several creatures) and a large-scale battle. This is the level of troops that a single medium-sized medieval city can provide - about a hundred fighters in total in the army. But not the level of troops of the scale of a kingdom, gathered from all over the country in several thousand warriors.
Therefore, the ratio of knights to a dragon is 6:1, and not 60:1, as it would be in large-scale battles. As I wrote before, there should be only a few dragons in the army, and not five or ten; this approach (focusing on single legendary creatures) was adopted in WGE from the beginning. All this fits well with the planned game time, because when you only get 1 dragon per week, and the total duration of the game is 2-3 weeks (including the first one, where there are no dragons in the army yet), it is impossible to gather a large squad of dragons. Just as, in reality, it is impossible to gather and provide a thousand-strong army in a short time, but squads of several dozen and hundreds of fighters are quite possible.
In conclusion, here are some small calculations showing what troop numbers can still realistically fit into the Heroes combat. The main criterion here is the range of general and targeted archer fire. As you know, targeted archery was carried out at a distance of up to 50-70 meters, and general fire rarely exceeded 150 meters, from which it is concluded that the length of one cell does not exceed 10 meters. On this cell, with an area of 100 square meters, an entire squad of creatures is placed. Obviously, it is impossible to accommodate more than 100 warriors in a normal combat formation here, and optimally - up to 30-50. In WGE duels, 40 militia are planned in one squad, but on the map, this squad should rarely exceed 100 fighters in long games. The linear dimensions of a classic dragon also reach about 20 meters, which is exactly 2 cells in length (a dragon is large, 2x2 cells).
It is, of course, possible to conduct battles in Heroes with hundreds and thousands of warriors, but this is essentially self-deception, when the player controls a thousand-strong army with the same mechanics and simplicity as the starting squads of several dozen creatures. Scaling fundamentally changes the very essence of the battle; epic battles are fought according to completely different rules and mechanics. In large-scale battles, in order to even start firing, it is necessary to bring the archers to positions, and in order for hundreds/thousands of infantry to inflict significant damage on the enemy, they need to be deployed in a front line (and not use an abstract square cell), which is not always possible and strongly depends on the terrain, the location of other troops.