Monster count?

What do you prefer as far as general monster count goes, the fearful challenge of E1M1, "i'm not happy until the ground is littered with bodies so much, that you cant remember the color of the floor, or HR + AV, while you're making sure to take all archies prisoner so they can revive all your good work, so you can kill them all over again for the fun of it.

Translation:

Do you like a small amount of well-placed monsters or an HR-style horde?

Well, i generally prefer small, well-placed hordes, so i can have some intense battles with a small amount of creatures (like 20 or so imps, or 5-6 cacodemons, or 3 barons ect) in largish areas, thats why the original DSV is one of my favorite wads (level design isnt too good though...), and the occasional huge DV style battle (as long as its well-choreographed, like in DV, not just a ton of randomly picked monsters appearing) to keep things interesting. Oh i also hate any amount of revenants, they are over-used these days..i used to think hellknights where but at least you can have decent battles with them, with revenants it becomes (run around, hide, listen for explosions, emerge and fire, repeat)

large amount of rank and file commanded by the odd big boy spread out over a large large area, preferably with a lot of outdoor areas and supreme architecture.

I like havimg lotsa things to shoot at. High counts can be really fun, when it's balanced right. I don't like constant regiments of one whole monster though. Variety makes it fun. Have a few demons, some humans, imps, 2 hell knights, and a caco, all in one regiment, As oppossed to a regiment of imps, followed by a entire regiment of demons, etc. High monster counts also usually means a map will take longer to finish, unless your a speed runner and you've played a map countless times. Having a whole bunch of different monsters in one spot, as oppossed to just a blob of one type can make high counts pretty entertaining. However, low monster counts can be challenging and good too, depending upon design layout, weapons/items etc.

For me it depends on the type of monster(s) coming in, the room, the weapons I have, etc. 4 Arch Viles behind a group of baron of hells, revanents, whatever, is the most annoying situation ever.