Those that made it into the Imperial army were not the best. The best made it to be royal Knights and personal Knights of high-ranking nobles and royal family members. Instead, the normal army and standing troops of the various nobles and groups were allowed to complete in three rounds of training, those that made it could be chosen to join the imperial army.
As elite fighting forces, they were trained and equipped with plenty of experience to handle even the best troops in the world without mage support. They might not win, but they could take care of them long enough for the others that could win would arrive.
There was nothing however, for an angry mad scientist who thought the best way to deal with an army was to beat them with hand tools.
