Having a certain number of people allocated to production is definitely something the game needs. But I think different buildings should be built and would allow the manufacture of more things. Then a Laborer menu could be brought up and the player could allocate where his workers would work. Also, having a commmodity system, as in Colonization, would be needed. Then, a player could manufacture goods to be used for trade, military use, or domestic use. Then armies would be created according to how many people are allocated for military use and the stockpile of weapons in the respective town.

In the laborer menu, you could drag and drop workers into a building in your town, and goods in that building would be produced based on the number of people working. If you wanted to put together a huge army of phalanx troops, you would put a lot of workers in your weapons workshops and you would produce lots of weapons that turn.

Military units should be created based on the population allocated and the amount of weapons in a city's stockpile. Under the Military subsection in the town allocation table, there should be a button that says "Create _______" with the specific type of military troop in the blank. Then the player would only be allowed to create as many units as his resources allowed.

During long wars, units could be combined. For instance, a unit with 400 people and 400 weapons would be combined with a unit of 800 people and 800 weapons to form a unit with 1200 people and weapons. A units attack rating would then be calculated based on the number of people, number of weapons, and type of weapons. You could also have bonuses for military units based on certain things. Military experience, training, loyalty, and morale all effect an armies power. Perhaps certain buildings in a city such as "Barracks, Training Grounds, War Colleges" would give bonuses to a unit's attack/defense rating.