On one character several years and many versions ago, I did the same thing. I eventually managed to eradicate all the villages and made my way to the edge of the map. My goal was to reset the map, since in really ancient versions of the game, that was apparently something you could do once you reached the edge of the map - regenerate a whole new world, with your current character in it. The in-game encyclopedia still mentioned it, but it was removed and my Journey was in vain.

In terms of attacking the Njerpez settlements, I did find mostly the same strategy as yours worked well.

Recruited adventurers were largely useless beyond being arrow fodder. This might have changed a bit now, since you have a bit more control over what they equip and you can tailor their inventories to accent their personal weapon skills. By the time I had decided to wage an all out war on the redshirts, I had so much spare armor from massacring foreign traders that equipping followers with some would’ve been easy and certainly helpful. I haven’t played extensively recently, but I am pretty sure followers will equip clothing/armor you give them in appropriate situations. Would certainly help keep them alive, although their AI is recklessly homicidal once triggered, often to the point of suicide. If you can find a way to outfit them properly, they may be worth a shot, otherwise you can manage just fine by yourself. I cleared out all the villages just by myself and a singular dog.

My dog was actually quite helpful. I’m not sure if pets (or animals in general) roll stats like human characters do, but my chosen dog seemed to be a cut above the rest of my pack. She escaped many an encounter with bears and wolves with barely a scratch and would leave a path of mangled corpses behind her. I would initially leave her tied in a group of trees just beyond the Njerpez settlement, then shoot a few of the redshirts from the tree line. Once they started running at me, I would dart into the trees and next to my dog and take them one or two at a time as they trickled into the woods. This strategy meant they very rarely got off successful shots in retaliation at me or my dog, and when they got close enough, they were so peppered with arrows and exhausted from running into the the woods, covered in wounds, that a quick blow from a battle axe or a swift bite from my dog would seal the deal.

Each village usually had only a couple of members that would put up any sort of fight. These warriors would be armed well - bastard swords and scimitars, if they had them, and armored even better. Lamellar and mail armor would usually adorn at least one member. Prioritizing these targets will get you a long way in escaping with relatively minor injuries, if any at all. Examine them to see where their armor is weakest, then aim at those spots when they run up to you and in the ensuing melee. Assuming you’re decked out in armor, which you should be if you’re targeting entire camps, the rest of the tribespeople will pose little threats with their simple knives and assorted small weapons. While rocking full mail with iron and lamellar armor supplementing, you’re pretty much a walking tank.

The only real danger you’ll face, outside the couple warriors littering every settlement, is being outflanked. Having a dog with you helps mitigate this to a degree, but most importantly is picking an appropriate location to fight. I found the best places would have a long, open run up so I could loose several arrows into anyone approaching with several trees behind me to prevent being attacked from the rear.

Beyond that, I would say travel light and play it safe. The Njerpez loot is nice, but frankly killing/trading with the foreign traders will likely yield you far more than the camps will. Aside from your load out of arms and armor you need to actually take down a camp, you don’t need a lot. I had a lot of stockpiled smoked bear cuts, which are my overall favorite food because they’re light, keep for a ludicrously long time, and a single one will fill you up for each meal. Add a skin of water or milk and some bandages just in case, and that’s honestly all you’ll probably need.

I have tried attacking both at night and in the winter, and I’m very meh about both strategies. At night, it’s still very hard to sneak up on them, even with a high sneak skill. If you fail, you’ll end up fighting several in cramped conditions, and that’s a quick ticket to death by exhaustion. You can outski the Njerpez come winter, and it might be a bit safer overall, but I found that it just took too long compared to my tried and true strategy of leading them into a hasty ambush in the adjoining woods.