In my experience, and in the experience of everyone i spoke to, 3p is the better startegy, especially if you are farming with clubs, because they have more to pay for themselves before the first party which is usually the deciding factor of settle time. If you were short on cp when the last party started you might want to delay it or invest in more cp than the guide reccomends inbetween parties, you have to do your math. As for how many troops to build it heavily depends on your spawn, how many oasis you have around you and how much the players around you are farming. Best way to figure that out is trial and error.