I created a thread just like this not a week ago, and in that time I have a functioning regiment and i'm in the N&S Union Army. This community welcomed me better than most do, where in other games they might stray you away to try and keep their position as a large regiment, these guys seem to want to welcome new guys as much as possible. I got a ton of great help, and i'm still learning new stuff everyday. I say, give it a shot.
Also, i'm enlisted in an NW branch, and I have plenty of time to do both. Assuming you are going to be in charge of a new regiment, you can easily schedule around any conflicts that NW might offer with your current regiment. Plus, i'm pretty sure N&S event hosts try and work around NW anyway.