2nd Level Fighter = Military leader?

[Zaruthustran]

Anyway, does it makes sense that a 2nd level fighter could be a powerful military leader? Obviously the majority of soldiers in the army of level 1 warriors (or possibly just commoners), but there would have to be at least a few PC-levelled fighters/paladins/barbarians/whatever in the bunch, right? What do you guys think? Would it be too much of a stretch to allow this background or do you think it would make at least some logical sense?

No, it doesn't make sense for a 2nd level fighter to be a powerful military leader. Key word being "powerful".

So, make it so that he was once powerful. But after the crushing defeat and exile, he's lost faith in himself and stopped training/adventuring. His levels atrophied. So, now at the start of the campaign he's effectively (that is, in game terms) 2nd level.

You see this all the time in movies and novels:

The old king was once mighty, but then became frail. Slowly, thanks to strong words by stout companions, he regains his power until he exceeds his former strength. Like, say, the King of Rohan in The Two Towers.

Or, the hero gets the crap beat out of him and put into a coma. One day he wakes up. He trains hard, relearns old skills, then goes out and beats up his foes. Like, say Steven Seagal in any of his movies.

Or, well, look at *any* Rocky movie.

-z