I find it a little unrealistic if the personnel number reflected the faction size.

Say, if having 5 personnel meant your team is only 5-man strong, and no gyft at that... I don't know how they would've came into control of an entire area, much less multiple... (Not to mention the possibility of being a bare-stick commander after losing an attempt)

If these personnel had their own teams or 'outsourced' certain tasks... But then it would be unrealistic for a group to double or triple in size over 1-2 GM posts (which I don't think spans that long IC), when everyone has already an established faction