The Ancient Dead require completely different tactics to fighting bandits, orcs, and goblins. While Ancient Legionnaires function very much like Orc Warriors, the armor requirement to effectively fight them is not nearly as high because their swords are basically weaker Arming Swords (that don’t cause bleed, unlike basically all bladed Orc weapons). Other thing is that Legionnaire shields are reasonably breakable for Axe specialists, unlike Warrior shields which are a waste of time to try to break.
They do a lot more damage than orcs when you consider their ability to focus fire with multiple deep lines (and the fact that unlike the random flailing of orcs, they make damned good use of that ability). They also have higher defenses than orcs, and if you break their shields the damage they deal out individually starts to be competitive (while ignoring the fact that much of their damage will still be coming from the back line.)
