Basic Unit Statistics (can be modified by difficulty level, arts, skills, traits and retainers)
| Recruitment Cost | 1200 | |
| Upkeep Cost | 200 | |
| Melee Attack | 22 | 62% |
| Charge Bonus | 25 | 50% |
| Bonus vs Cavalry | 15 | 50% |
| Melee Defence | 10 | 28% |
| Armour | 9 | 60% |
| Morale | 40 | 80% |
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Versatile infantry, very good against cavalry and other infantry.
- Excellent morale.
- Weak against matchlocks.
Description
In the hands of a great heroine, the naginata is a graceful whirl of steel and bloody death.
Beauty and death can exist in deadly harmony. These fearless samurai women have outstanding morale. In melee, they can devastate sword-armed infantry but if properly handled, they can execute devastating flank attacks against almost anyone. Because their numbers are few, the heroine and her supporters can be quickly overwhelmed by numbers when facing large forces, and they have no especially heroic protection against missiles: arrows and bullets are no respecters of nobility and courage. The naginata became a weapon associated with samurai women during the Gempei War period. In the hands of a skilled user a naginata can be a surprisingly graceful weapon, and terrifyingly deadly. Women still use the naginata in sporting competitions using the rules of atarashii naginata or "new naginata", a recognised martial art. This is one of the gendai budo styles established after the Meiji Restoration in the late 19th Century to promote Japanese culture and keep alive traditional values at a time of great change. Although the new martial arts are often seen as sports, they are also serious ways to study life as well: they are not only about technique and competition.