Healers - How many to buy.

[ChrisDDickey]

In both realms I am in, the generals bulletin says you should have one healer for every 20 men you have.
I know this is just conventional wisdom, but I was wondering how that number was arrived at and how healers work. Is it actually that one healer can care for 20 men, healthy or wounded, or is it just that large units are expected to have large numbers of casualties.  I mean if I have 60 healthy men, one wounded man, and 2 healers, will that not be enough because I don't have 3 healers? Or is it just that after a big battle I ought to have 3 healers to care for the 30 wounded men I might have?
Is one per 20 the "optimal" number, but even one for 60 is better than none, or is one for 60 so overworked as to be practically useless?
  Thanks.

[Sacha]

The more wounded you have, the more healers will be needed to tend to them. If you have a large unit and expect a few big battles soon, then it's wise to hire an extra healer or two. If you only expect a few small skirmishes, 1-2 healers will be more than enough. There isn't an precise formula AFAIK, so it's a matter of experience. But IMO, spending 5 gold a week on an extra healer is well worth it if it means he will save 5 more men from dying. Better to spend a little gold on a healer than a lot of gold on replenishing troops.

[Silverfire]

Also, it makes a large difference on how valuable to you your men are.

If you are running a large unit (takeover style unit) with weak stats then you don't need as many healers per man ratio.

However, if you're running extremely well trained special forces unit, of say 40 men, I would easily take at least 5 healers for those 40 men. I don't want to lose any soldiers when it costs me well over 100 gold per 10 men that I hire.