One thing to keep in mind with this is that archery is tangent to the metal line, while melee is on it. So, your axemen/champions are almost guaranteed to have better weapons then your archers/longbowmen.In effect - they're Strength 4 units with a -1 to offense strength, with Longbows being comparable to a Strength 6 Champion, with a -1 to offense strength...
(This is my argument to make Bowyers cheaper, although I missed all of 050 and have only limited time to explore 051, so maybe this is now a non-issue)