Raw headcount has to be weighed against the quality of the troops conducting and resisting a siege. A smaller army may still contain a much larger peasant force if its soldiers are markedly better. That logic fails when the smaller besieger faces hastati and other capable troops while the defender also has respectable units. Numerical inferiority requires a real qualitative advantage in this game deployment.
Notable Point · 2:59:07-2:59:51
When can a smaller army besiege a larger one?
A smaller force can contain a larger peasant army when troop quality compensates, but the same gamble becomes disastrous against competent heavy infantry.