Heavy yashawns is as high as we go and def not the entire fight. Generally a third get that armor and then switch to mamluk. We could prob play that super plate game but it takes away some of the variety that makes the faction look unique
That whopping 10 body armor (and a whole 1 leg! 44-54 body and 19-20 leg) difference between Mamluk and Yawshawn is a pretty big step, yes, lol- but they're both already on the heavy end even without looms or gloves + gloves looms. If you add Lordly to that value, and gloves... They're both heavy armor sets in terms of the protection afforded, which allows for more mistakes to be made.
I think the biggest issue is that
the highest difficulty on armor is 16. That needs to change IMO. The heaviest stuff should take
at least as much STR as the Great Maul, and probably even more for the sake of balance, though Strategus balance in particular. If the heaviest armor sets took 24+ STR we might see less of it in strat, and we'd be able to identify high priority/high damage-potential targets more efficiently (though the clever STR builds would just wear lighter gear). If the requirements went up, less people would be able to play dress up in roleplay in anything they want, but then why have requirements for armor AT ALL?