it's possible to get gold armored ones before end of early if you pretty much build straight to swabians and only upgrade armor.

they are only slightly inferior to huscarles. try to get a stockpile before going into high.

last decade or two should be a swabian every turn.

I remember to satisfy the Darg Nacht Osten goal, I unleashed a full stack of those boys in silver armor upon the 5 stacks of rabble they had in livonia under Henry the Lion who was a 7* swabian fella by then.

it was pure slaughter. I cut wide swaths through the enemy and parked them on the map edge, slaughtering them as they came in.