Just for the record…
The highest possible armory level in Ch.16 is 37. According to ElvenArchitect’s per-square calculator:
View attachment 15047
The Orc Nests are about 6% more efficient and that’s before taking into account that the armory also requires 6,603 population and 20,488 culture available to place it (lots of support squares!), whereas the Orc Nest doesn’t need anything beyond its basic footprint and actually provides culture. If you don’t need the training size from the Armory, go with Orc Nests every time.
@Mrietha, if you prefer to negotiate, stick with it! Most of the advice on the forum is geared toward fighters which makes it seem like it’s not possible to negotiate successfully in the higher chapters, but it absolutely is. It just requires a different mindset and type of city planning.
(Starting with, don’t build armories for orc production…
)