Hmm. Its been a hit or miss for me. Of my 5 or so playthroughs, 4 have been quite challenging. The main playthrough, Martyrs' Vanguard, has been a success - but only with extremely careful strategizing. I don't have any armor above 110 durability, 140 or 150 for helmets, and I'm having a hell of a time fighting enemies that are coming out fully-kitted, not to mention the special event enemies like necros, shaman, etc.
Everything I own was looted from enemies. I haven't bought a single weapon or piece of armor since I first began and got past the 40-50 durability light armor tier. It often meant running into battle woefully under-equipped, but that only forced me to play a highly defensive ambush hit&run style to my battles.
Also, bandages. Lots of bandages. Also, wardogs! And having a falcon is extremely vital to your battle strategy, so you know where they're coming from.
As they say, pick your battles wisely.
I run a full 12-man crew, primarily as a shield/spear formation.
The frontline is all spear-shields except for an axe/hammer and mace/flail (interchangeable) duo.
Its organized in a grid so I always have spear coverage, and all spearmen have the spear skill so they continue to spearwall even if an enemy bypasses the wall. long-reach weapons are a must in order to both bypass the wall, and attract enemies who will want to hit their shieldlessness - drawing them right into a trap.
Depending on the battle, ranged characters also carry either 2-tile halberd/axes/pikes/hooks/etc, a 1H and shield, or a combination of the two.
Spear-|-2-tile long axe-|-Spear-|- 2hander / long-axe -|- spear -|-mace/flail -|- spear
-|- 2-tile halberd-|-Cross-|- Bowman w/ wardog -|- cross -|- flagbearer-|-
Don't underestimate the flagbearer... My dude has a crazy amount of kills despite primarily huddling behind my lines trying not to get murdered. o_O
Having the 2-tile long-reachers in the corners means if the enemy tries to flank you, which definitely happens, you're in a position to angle off your spear/shield flank, place your reachers behind 'em, and take potshots while the shields tank.
Ps, heater shields for melee bonus, kite shields for range bonus.
I have Nine Lives on every single character I have. Its a lifesaver. *badumtss*