Ashigaru Yari = WEAK

[Ludens]

Samurai aren't that worried by routing ashigaru, though. IIRC the morale penalty for nearby routing units is -6, unless the routers are ashigaru and the non-routing unit is not. In that case, the penalty is -2.

If a samurai unit starts wavering because of fleeing ashigaru, its morale must have been pretty depressed already.

[Yesugey]

Samurai aren't that worried by routing ashigaru, though. IIRC the morale penalty for nearby routing units is -6, unless the routers are ashigaru and the non-routing unit is not. In that case, the penalty is -2.

If a samurai unit starts wavering because of fleeing ashigaru, its morale must have been pretty depressed already.

Hmm, I think it happens when they charge against musketeers.

I am a musketeer fan, and normally, Yari Samurai get hit by the first volley and then contact and kill the musketeers.
But thanks to AI, it charges its Ashigaru first, and because of they flee, Yari Samurai follows them.

[Maeda Toshiie]

My bridge defense armies consists of pure Ashigaru units. YA + Muskets == lots of dead enemies. Sometimes, I even use specialized YA armies to assault bridge provinces, but requires bad weather and an enemy force that does not contain WMs and NDs. It is a little bit of an exploit, since the defending AI does cross the bridge to attack my YAs. Therefore, I'd form a U shape at the mouth of the bridge and attack when part of the enemy has crossed. Obviously this requires YAs with lots of weapon, armour, and honour upgrades, and they must be in hold formation most of the time.