A lot of this comes back to the fact that concentrating a lot of high power mages in one place probably TERRIFIES the upper ranks of the TSAB. Nanoha, Fate and Hayate, combined, probably outgun the Asura at this point. Now imagine them walking into the senate.. or imperial palace.. or whatever.. and declaring 'We're in charge now...' The Aces may very well be more loyal to one another than they are to the TSAB as a whole, which would make anyone who's a little afraid of someone capable of cracking a planet like an egg wake up in a cold sweat most nights.
Of course, on the other hand, the TSAB practice of 'budgeting' power allows individual high power mages to shine in general without creating a super powered hit squad that saves the day for everyone leaving the rest of the TSAB wondering what they're there for.
The nasty side effect of this is that it encouages Zerg tactics, throwing large numbers of weak mages at a problem, which also leads to needing to house these troops and moving them around. This creates the 'roving precinct' effect we see in the first two seasons, where the Asura is despirately trying to interdict more or less a whole planet, while the Knights sneak through the cracks in their guard.
It also allows opponents to develop methods of countering large numbers of weak mages.. such as AMF. An AMF rquires either skill, power, or both on top of manuverability to foil. If your attacking force is full of class-B mages, and you throw a bunch of AMF generators into an area, you've more or less won the field without firing a shot as the mages all wonder why their barriers have failed.
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead
Of course, on the other hand, the TSAB practice of 'budgeting' power allows individual high power mages to shine in general without creating a super powered hit squad that saves the day for everyone leaving the rest of the TSAB wondering what they're there for.
The nasty side effect of this is that it encouages Zerg tactics, throwing large numbers of weak mages at a problem, which also leads to needing to house these troops and moving them around. This creates the 'roving precinct' effect we see in the first two seasons, where the Asura is despirately trying to interdict more or less a whole planet, while the Knights sneak through the cracks in their guard.
It also allows opponents to develop methods of countering large numbers of weak mages.. such as AMF. An AMF rquires either skill, power, or both on top of manuverability to foil. If your attacking force is full of class-B mages, and you throw a bunch of AMF generators into an area, you've more or less won the field without firing a shot as the mages all wonder why their barriers have failed.
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead