Hiya Matt! I agree with most of your points, but it seems to me that a lot of it is already reflected in the game engine. Were they not as visible as you want? I think it's pretty well balanced between cost and usefulness. They are a bit more lethal than spears, but only if used properly.

If you just set ND on a pack of yari, you will loose most of your no-dachi. You'll probably win, but at too heavy losses. Losing 60 out of 80 men is unacceptable in a campaign. They cost 100+ koku more than spears, and require more buildings in the tech tree, so how would that be "more cost effective?"

On the other hand, if you use them effectively (ie: don't let them hang in a fight!) then they deal lots of damage before taking too many losses - but they must have that enemy held in place by spears! It's really only that inital charge bonus that makes ND useful. They die too quick for long-term combat, so they must have another unit around for support.

Also, units DO get penalties for not being in good formation, more morale penatlies than combat penalties, but that's if they're left on Engage At Will. That's one of the reasons for "Hold Formation," is that it makes your yari's a nasty group to try to attack. Spears work best when holding a position and formation, rather than just charging into the battle line. They don't do as much damage, but they'll be hard to force out and kill. Swordsmen, however, lose their attack effectiveness when trying to hold a formation other than assault-wedge. Doesn't that fit with what you were describing as something to fix?

So yari are indeed the better long-term general melee troops, and ND should be used more sparingly, for actual charges to break up enemy formations. Once the formation is broken, anyone is much easier to kill.

For those who want a more "realistic" army, simply follow your own rules: make an army that's 80 percent ashigaru spears, with a couple of veteran spearmen, a handful of archers, and only one unit of the "specialties." Cavalry if you're playing Takeda. Actually, those battles are great fun! It becomes a question of who commands their armies better, rather than who spends their koku better.

-- B)