Quote Originally Posted by Rothe View Post
I'd really be happy to see if Samurai arrows actually are "armor piercing".

That would require a test where an ashigaru archer has the same accuracy and reload as the samurai unit, which I suppose is possible to do via valor and accuracy bonus?
Maybe I am wrong, but it seems to me that my tests are sufficient. If Samurai and Ashigaru had the same chance to penetrate armor, then their relative kill rates should be the same for targets of any armor class. The fact that the Samurai have higher kill rates relative to Ashigaru against armored opponents implies they must have some additional efficacy against armor - i.e. be armor piercing.

Let's say the expected number of hits on a target in a given time period is Hs for Samurai and Ha for Ashigaru. This number would depend on accuracy and reload but should be same whatever the armor class of the target.

The chance for a hit to kill (i.e. to penetrate armor) is Ks for Samurai and Ka for Ashigaru. If Samurai are not armor piercing, this should be the same for Samurai and Ashigaru (Ks=Ka).

The number of kills is Hs.Ks and Ha.Ka for Samurai and Ashigaru respectively.

So for a lower armour class target (1) and a higher armor target (2), the ratio of the number of Samurai kills to Ashigaru would be Hs.Ks(1)/Ha.Ka(1) and Hs.Ks(2)/Ha.Ka(2). If both are equally (in)capable of piercing armor, we have a ratio of Hs/Ha for both types of targets.

Even if I am wrong, I am not sure why you would want to know more about whether Samurai arrows are "armor piercing"? The tests show their superiority over Ashigaru is greater, the more armor the target has. Whether that is because they can pierce armor or because Ashigarus' aim starts to shake when faced with armored opponents, the implications for your recruitment decisions are the same.