I'd like to point out that it is quite different if an already established army is one regiment short of regulations (especially after battles or if it is divided between two persons), or that a person that recently became eligible for private army doesn't get one after repeatedly being pointed out that one should be recruited.

Furthermore, it is an OOC rule. Impartial, set in stone, part of the mechanics. If you are looking for loopholes in OOC rules then you are by definition mixing IC and OOC aspects of the game. And that in my opinion is malice aforethought.