Elizabeth Bennet and Buffy
"They always just start off as a nuisance and then just get worse from there," Buffy replied. Once numbers increased on evil's side, things only became worse for those trying to ward it off. The First had ended up like that; their numbers had increased to the point that Buffy had not been sure they could be defeated even with all the slayer's fully powered. Spike's sacrifice had turned it in their favor.
Hearing that the women were at least arming themselves made sense to Buffy. Even in the time period, evil was everywhere and you could not expect an army to show up when you yourself were in danger. It didn't work like that. "That's smart," Buffy commented.