Armies for hire would not, I'd say, go much above 6th level, except for a very large army--and even then those would be officers only. Let's say you want 500 people for your army--you can scale these down as necessary:
(I'm listing--near as I can--a US Army rank to go along with each level. Feel free to disagree
Each platoon consists of:
1 -- War4 or Ftr4 (staff sergeant) @ 10 gp/day;
2 -- War3 (sergeant) @ 6 gp/day;
4 -- War2 (corporal) @ 3 gp/day;
16 -- War1 (PFC) @ 1 gp/day;
2 -- Exp2 or Rog2 (Spec.) @ 3 gp/day;
3 -- Adp2 or Clr2 (Medics) @ 5 gp/day;
2 -- Wiz3 (US Army? Nah) @ 10 gp/day.
For a total of thirty men (or women) at 87 gp/day
in pay. We'll make things even by saying they require 13 gp/day in supplies. 100 gp/day per platoon.
12 platoons (3 companies) of melee fighters, and 4 platoons (1 company) of archers. Each company headed by a Ftr5 (CSM) @ 15 gp/day.
One Ftr6 (lieutenant) commanding the entire battalion, @ 25 gp/day.
15 ancillary personnel, including the lieutenant's assistant, a couple of quartermasters, a few higher-level medics as a triage unit, maybe a 4 or 5 Ftr3/Rog2 as a Spec Ops force... say another 85 gp/day here including supplies.
That's one ready-made 500-man battalion for 1750 gp/day. Split it in half and lose the lieutenant to hire a couple of companies for 850 a day; lump half a dozen battalions together and consolidate the ancillary personnel for a 3000-man regiment (oh, and hire a Ftr8 to be in charge of the regiment @ 50 gp/day) for around 10,000 gp/day.
Thoughts?
