One thing is do we want small armies?
49 vs 49 battles are kinda annoying, to roll call for them 30 mins before when battle only lasts like 10 mins. I agree the 1500 armies are too much, maybe drop battle times down to 60 mins max, so 1000 will become new max, but IMO the floor should be raised also, maybe to 200 troops before upkeep kicks in?
That beginning with no neutral fiefs sounds like it's gonna be a clusterfuck lol. I dunno how well it's gonna work, but if nothing else it should be very amusing.