njam, 1x1, 2x1 and 2x2 are all good, why not all three variations. 1x1 is basic, 2x1 is more expensive, 2x2 is the most powerful. Also, maybe a triangle of three units would work well.
If you look at the Terracotta soldiers in Warlords faction (Imperial II tech tree) there's another example of a 2x2 unit. The issue I found there was that because I was copying the mesh/bones, when I animated one model, all four moved. Maybe you can de-link the bones but I just lived with it.
re blender. 2.49 works fine, I use it and the team color works just fine.