One more late thought on all of this. “Fighting season” would be when the crops were in and the weather favorable. It’s why BH didn’t return till the following spring. Just as now, but even more so then, seasons, weather and economics controlled how and when armies fought. The Greek hoplites came from their farms for the fighting season and then returned to them.
The Assyrians maintained a standing army. Guys who didn’t go home at planting time. Not many kingdoms could afford that luxury. I don’t know this for a fact, but it’s my guess neither Damascus or the NK could have afforded a large standing army and the clip in Kings saying BH waited till spring to come back for a second try sort of reaffirms this.
So BH would have been fielding an army with a few professionals and a lot of “national guard”. And Ahab would have been meeting him with the same. One difference this COULD mean in the two armies is the quality of the off season training those two armies maintain. The one with the better program would be more efficient in the field on the day of battle.
Psychology would be a tipping difference. Alexander the Great typically squared off with armies that outnumbered him but that were composed of mercenaries with no dog in the hunt. Their morale in the face of fierce and determined Greeks often waned. The skill and training of his army made the difference many times thru out his campaigns.
