Footsoldiers of the Samurai… Ashigaru from Wargames Factory
February 15, 2012 in Historical Battles, Wargames Factory, What's in the Box by darrell
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Darrell takes a look at the latest Ashigaru kit from the guys at Wargames Factory.
Ashigaru Yari Troops Reviewed by Beasts of War on February 15, 2012. Footsoldiers of the Samurai… Ashigaru from Wargames Factory
Darrell takes a look at the latest Ashigaru kit from the guys at Wargames Factory.
Rating: 4Check Latest Ashigaru Yari Troops Prices
These might be worth getting.
glad to see these in the plastic rather than as 3d renders- look better than the samurais to me
so thats 3 plastic kits for samurai type dudes wargames factory now do, maybe a nice alternative for empire or kings of war humans?
Counts-as Cathay or Nippon I reckon…I’d suggest using LOTR Easterlings too but they just had a price hike and I don’t like to encourage that behaviour.
LOL, his lack of historical knowledge is outstanding
Its a conche shell horn and drum not a waterskin and backpack. And whats with “his weapon is longer so he can stick it in the other guy before he gets it himself” 
As battles in Medievel Japan were genrally quite large affairs plastic Ashigaru to flesh out an army has got to be a winner.
They’ll look great with Perrys Samurai.
I always enjoy Darrells unique view of history
Question is, do the rest of the guys set hm up or do they know less
Sorry but still waiting in hope that Perry do some of this in plastic soon. Not sold on this at all.
These do look the best I’ve seen from WF, pitty they went ahead with the tippy-toe pose though, I’m not even sure that pose is possible in normal movement.
Hi folks,
Since Darrell asked in his video the large backpack looking thing is actually a drum that many ashigaru carried into battle (arms for the drummer are also provided). The object that Darrell referred to as a flask or canteen is actually a conch shell trumpet which we’ve provided as an alternative to the drum/drummer for the command portion of your troops. The troops can be made with their naga yari (long spears) level to the ground, at a 45-degree angle or at a 90-degree angle.
The swords are period correct, by the way. The distinction between ashigaru and samurai had become increasingly blurred by the late 16th century until they eventually merged into one class (samurai). Many damiyo’s had, in fact, been purchasing uniforms and the long and short swords for their ashigaru as well as armor (not always of the best quality though). However, if you feel strongly about ashigaru not having the two sword symbol of the samurai (which didn’t really take hold until the 17th century) the plastic is easy to cut (I’ve done it myself on my own models) and takes about 3-seconds; that’s the beauty of plastic: it’s easy to work with and model as you see fit. I left all of my command models with the 2-swords (leader, standard bearer and musician) to make them stand out.
You might also notice that in the missile troop set we didn’t provide standard bearers or musicians. The reason for this is that we felt that since 50% of the ashigaru troops in a samurai army (historically and going by most rules systems) would be armed with naga yari. In order to fit all of the bows and arquebus and various arm poses on the sprue we left off the command figures (except for the swagger stick which most arquebusier commanders had) from the missile sprue. Since you’ll have 3 or even 4 sets of spare banners, drums, conch shells and arms to hold them with from the spear set, we suggest using these spare parts with your missile troops to create your command units. The Samurai also do not come with command figures because this role was often times taken up by their ashigaru retainers.
Hope you all have a great time building and painting these. I know I am.
By any chance will we see plastic cavalry for the 17th century force?