08-12-2006, 02:45 AM
Marcus, I applaud you on your collection my friend. Where did you get the menpo? I'm going to attempt making a kabuto out of a WW I era Swiss Army helmet. Check it out on ebay, if you can find one. The shape of it as a base helmet looks pretty good. But the menpo...yikes! I have a few ideas for making one...mostly using auto-body stuff, like bondo and liquid fiberglass (Bondo is this paste-like stuff that dries super hard, and you can sand it.)
I started working on my okigawa do again Marcus..I snapped a few shots of the back plates that I'm rivetting together. I'll have to update my website of Japanese stuff once I get farther ahead. Have you seen my japanese site? www.geocities.com/thearmourroom/ I'll have more stuff to put on there as well, once I get around to it.
Hey Ben,
Well, the original post was a single Legionary vs a single Samurai. But if you wanted to put infantry vs infantry, I agree that the first few vollies of pila are going to hurt the first few ranks of samurai. But here's the problem. There's a really, really good chance that the samurai won't break and run. And depending on what the samurai are again armed with, they could break the shield wall and exploit a gap. Remember, the katana was a sidearm, like the pugio, so you have to pick your poison...naginata, yari, etc. etc.
All low-ranking samurai wore what would be called "munitions" grade panoplies. Only Ashigaru (peasent soldiers), were outfitted with less armour, or non-solid torso armour kind of like a coat of plates. It was the duty of the Daimyo to ensure all of his retainers (samurai) had presentable, even if simple full cuirasses. That's where the difference in high vs low ranking samurai came into play. Decorations, material type (silk vs leather strapping in some cases), and complexity marked a higher ranked samurai's armour. But all lower ranked samurai still had a complete set of armour as pictured in Marcus's post.
The Romans had some cavalry units, I don't think they were completely auxilliaries, but that harkens back to a Legion vs a Samurai army.
Rome was very successful, but it's unfair to compare the Roman Empire given Japan's isolation. I don't think politically Japan during the feudal period was ever really imperialistic anyway.
I also can't see a Roman Army fairing well against one that came almost 1,500 years later given the differences in technology alone. I think in reality it's an unfair comparison...ancient vs medieval/feudal.
BTW - does anyone know who I lent my copy of "The Last Samurai" to?
I started working on my okigawa do again Marcus..I snapped a few shots of the back plates that I'm rivetting together. I'll have to update my website of Japanese stuff once I get farther ahead. Have you seen my japanese site? www.geocities.com/thearmourroom/ I'll have more stuff to put on there as well, once I get around to it.
Hey Ben,
Well, the original post was a single Legionary vs a single Samurai. But if you wanted to put infantry vs infantry, I agree that the first few vollies of pila are going to hurt the first few ranks of samurai. But here's the problem. There's a really, really good chance that the samurai won't break and run. And depending on what the samurai are again armed with, they could break the shield wall and exploit a gap. Remember, the katana was a sidearm, like the pugio, so you have to pick your poison...naginata, yari, etc. etc.
All low-ranking samurai wore what would be called "munitions" grade panoplies. Only Ashigaru (peasent soldiers), were outfitted with less armour, or non-solid torso armour kind of like a coat of plates. It was the duty of the Daimyo to ensure all of his retainers (samurai) had presentable, even if simple full cuirasses. That's where the difference in high vs low ranking samurai came into play. Decorations, material type (silk vs leather strapping in some cases), and complexity marked a higher ranked samurai's armour. But all lower ranked samurai still had a complete set of armour as pictured in Marcus's post.
The Romans had some cavalry units, I don't think they were completely auxilliaries, but that harkens back to a Legion vs a Samurai army.
Rome was very successful, but it's unfair to compare the Roman Empire given Japan's isolation. I don't think politically Japan during the feudal period was ever really imperialistic anyway.
I also can't see a Roman Army fairing well against one that came almost 1,500 years later given the differences in technology alone. I think in reality it's an unfair comparison...ancient vs medieval/feudal.
BTW - does anyone know who I lent my copy of "The Last Samurai" to?
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Magnus/Matt
Du Courage Viens La Verité
Legion: TBD
Magnus/Matt
Du Courage Viens La Verité
Legion: TBD
