User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 442: The Law of Space, Review./@comment-4933386-20150630134148/@comment-7418318-20150702190559

Sure but with regular soldiers it's far more about numbers than with mages.

With the mages a small team of elites can take down an entire guild, like Erza, Natsu & Co did with Eisenwald.

That four soldiers could take down an entire platoon though is far less likely.

Thus I think that if non-mage soldiers would clash against non-mage soldiers, Ishgal would be far less at a disadvantage or maybe even at an advantage, since they know the terretory, can did in and have easier to defend supply routs -> no ocean between the bases and the army, than in a fight of mage against mage.

12 Spriggans, supposedly on par with the strongest Wizard Saint vs. 8 or 9 Wizard Saints (one traitor, once might be missing Makarov)... not good cards.