STW Yari Samurai
TO DO: Someone might want to throw in a short paragraph about actual yari and place a pic here.
Yari Samurai
| STW Yari Samurai | |
|---|---|
| Unit Name: | Yari Samurai |
| Type: | Spear |
| Combat Stats | |
| Charge: | 0 |
| Attack: | 0 |
| Defence: | 2 |
| Armour: | 2 |
| Speed: | 5 - 8 - 9.5 |
| Morale: | 2 |
| Cost: | |
Unit Card: 
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Yari Samurai are the first (and for quite some time the only) decent melee unit you get. They're not exceptionally good at anything, but they're also not bad at anything – jack of all trades, master of none. They're really nothing to write home about, but due to their low cost and relative versatility they will remain useful throughout the game. Until you become seriously rich, you'll probably field more Yari than all other troop types combined. They therefore are the benchmark for melee units.
Yari are Spears -- in Total War terms, this means that Yari Samurai work best in an orderly formation facing the enemy. In such a setup, although only the soldiers in the first row do the actual fighting, however, they have the support of three or four ranks behind them. In later games of the series, this meant a boost of +1 defence for every supporting rank and +1 attack for every two supporting ranks. Oh, and besides Spears get a huge attack bonus against cavalry.
Ordering the unit to "keep formation" is easy; ensuring that they will actually face their opponents can be tricky at times, especially when attacking. Tried and proved methods are:
- set a waypoint behind the enemy, let your troops march into the opponents' unit , once the first men start fighting order your unit to stop.
- if you tell them to attack some unit they will charge, losing any formation on the way. When they're rather close, often the enemy will counter-charge. Just stop your troops, more often then not they will shape up sufficiently even in the few moments that remain. Taking the enemy charge, then fighting in proper formation usually is more favorable.
Spears aren't made to chop up the enemy (unless said enemy comes on horseback), their emphasis is on holding out, the more so because attacking units usually don't keep their formation. Yari are best used in the tactical defensive -provoke an attack then hold out- all things being equal, orderly defenders will win against an attacking mob even when fighting uphill. However, two units of Yari Samurai fighting head-on is mutual attrition, not actual slaughter. The real point of Yari is to keep the enemy occupied, they will hold out some time even against the fiercest opponents, buying you time to outflank the enemy and have another unit charge into their back. Said flanker may well be another unit of Yari: although No Dachi or Warrior Monks are much better at the task, units are so much more vulnerable to attacks from behind that even Yari usually are will do. Don't bother with formations when flanking, though, just get as many spears into contact with the enemies' behinds as possible.
