After some terrible experience I always build my archers with dodge + anticipation (initiative/ranged/ranged def ups per lvl). It realy helps to solve enemy shooters problem for good (they almost never hit late game). Dodge also helps a lot against melee problems (when orc warrior breaks formation, per expamle).
Yep outnumbering is pretty hard – better just kill enemy faster. My personal favorite is 2h hammers, especialy if I can find rare one.