Hi,
Well, when it comes to the Blakists, you may be closer to the mark than not in your guess that it was a result of being thrown off their original plans. Indeed, it's very possible that the WoBM would have just gone up to 50 or 60 Divisions, had they been able to fight the Jihad they really planned, while the Shadow Divisions might have been numbered 1 to 18.
But we'll never know, because a bunch of Steiner-Davions and their little Liao ruined everything.
Thanks,
- Herb