Muskets?

[Irving]

ok. we know that guns were introduced to Japan in 1543 when Portugese were stranded on the island of Tamegashima (?) south of Kyushu. These were smoothbore MATCHLOCKS. Also, the Japanese, because of their 'privacy policy', excluding foreigners during the Tokugawa shogunate, basically used these teppos for the next 300 years roughly. SO, and i am getting to my point, why are there TWO kinds of gunpowder units, when clearly there was only ONE kind of gun. (yes, i know about the variants, but it's all the same teppo)

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Chaos is born from order.
Cowardice is born from bravery.
Weakness is born from strength.
-Sun Tzu

[Krasturak]

Hmmmm.....

Krast thinks of these as two versions .... the simple 'arquebus' representing the low quality matchlock and the 'musket' representing a superior flintlock firearm.

Both are smoothbore.

Aren't both present in the historical and archeological record?

The Way of The Daimyo manual explains why they did 2 types of gun units. Let me quote from it [section army units]:

1) Arquebusiers description:

Quote The coming of the arquebus in 1542 led to a revolution in the way that clan armies were armed and organised. Properly used in large numbers, arquebuses could be devastating missile weapons, even though it was out-ranged by, and slower than, a traditional bow.

Early arquebuses were very heavy, and often needed a stake-like support for the barrels. In turn, this made them cumbersome to move and deploy, as they certainly couldn’t be used without such supports. This also means that arquebus-armed ashigaru aren’t very effective in hand-to-hand combat. Their firepower can inflict heavy casualties on anyone who comes near, but if the enemy gets close enough, the arquebus-armed ashigaru are at a huge disadvantage in hand-to-hand combat. They will, quite simply, be cut to pieces.
Because arquebus-armed ashigaru require a trading post to be constructed in a clan’s domain, they can only be produced after the arrival of European traders in Japan: the Portuguese arrive in 1542, while the Dutch land in 1561. European traders were quite happy to sell guns to the daimyo warlords, but their European gun makers were at the other end of a very long and hazardous sea voyage. Local gunsmiths did manage to copy European arquebuses, but not immediately in large quantities. This is part of the reason for the relatively long training time for arquebus-armed ashigaru. It’s not hard to teach troops to use the weapons, but getting hold of enough arquebuses plus good quality powder and shot can be a headache![/QUOTE]

2) Musketeer description

Quote Qualitative improvements in gunpowder weapons and (just as importantly) their tactical use mean that later in the Sengoku period — and in Shogun Total War — an improved form of arquebus-armed ashigaru can be trained for inclusion in your army. These troops have a slightly greater range with their gunfire and a higher rate of fire. By this point the arquebus has become a more refined and — most importantly — a lighter weapon that can be aimed without the need for an extra support.[/QUOTE]

Conclusion

Quote The term "musketeer" isn’t strictly correct because these ashigaru aren’t technically armed with muskets as such but with a lighter, improved type of arquebus. However, "Slimmed-Down-But-Improved Arquebus Ashigaru" is a bit of a mouthful for a unit title! [/QUOTE]

Tera

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[This message has been edited by Terazawa Tokugawa (edited 01-02-2002).]

[Anssi Hakkinen]

Ah, how throroughly you managed to explain it while typing so little, Terazawa-sama.

Seriously, the name by which you call it isn't really that important anyway. European armies continued using primarily matchlocks (except for snipers and hunters, who needed the more accurate flintlock) well into the 17th century, but we have no problem calling those muskets... Heck, how would Dumas's famous novel sound as The Three Arquebusiers?

[Flame of Udun]

If I remember correctly Arquebusiers were used in The 3 Musketeers... by snipers