No, that would be enough.
These NMs can actually be beaten by a single, solid party, but the battles will be rough.
People tend to go in a full alliance for several reasons:
1) With 14-18 people beating down the NMs, it is pretty much a sure victory, and little risk of anyone dying.
2) With so many people moving in a group through Xarcabard, there is again much less chance of anyone dying. Most times people don't even bother with sneak, they just kill whatever gets in the way.
It's actually kind of fun.
3) It's a good way to get the quest accomplished for a large number of people all at once, reducing the number of times you'll have to go do the quest again in a couple of days.
Just a note, and please don't be offended at the mention of it, but I have seen it happen almost every time.....
Please make sure that you and anyone you recruit has gone and spoken to Maat and opened this quest, before you leave Jueno.
It seems like a no-brainer, but there seems to always be at least one person who gets caught up in the swirl of activity as the alliance gets underway, and they know they need to do the quest, they've read up on it and everything, but it just escaped their minds at the last minute to actually go and talk to Maat and get the quest opened.
The other thing to consider is that there will often be some people who already have the Teleport-Zvhal gate crystal, while others do not.
Often, half the group will teleport directly there, while the other half must trek up from Sandoria through Ranguemont Pass, and then across the glacier, into Xarcabard.
For some people, this will be the first time they have ever trekked up that way.
This is simply a fact of life, and often part of the "right of passage" for most people to finally obtain this gate crystal.
If I am available for your G2 expedition, I will be happy to go with the "hiking" contingent, if necessary, as a guide and bodyguard.
Edited, Mon Jan 31 17:58:52 2005 by Tenmiles