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.