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Originally Posted by HoneyBadger
There was a big difference in the relative sharpness of medieval European swords (which were commonly pretty blunt, when used in larger battles), and pre-colonial Japanese swords, and the way each was used, and the differing armour styles reflect those differences.
European swords were meant to be used over and over, to hammer the target into submission, with the side-effect of the possibility to ransom the still-living loser. Japanese swords, ideally, were intended to be used once, fatally.
So, European armour was designed to resist blows and distribute damage, whereas, if you got hit by a well made katana, by a samurai who was skilled in kendo, you'd be lucky if a blow just crippled you.
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European swords weren't as sharp as katanas, but I'm not sure what you mean by "relative sharpness". Even western blades could
cut through flesh and bone with relative ease, severe hands and achieve similar feats of "shrapness". Even so, you could grab a western sword
by the blade without hurting yourself. (The videos probably have nothing to do with each other, so it's not the same sword.)
I've read a good article about the difference between a sharp edge and a beveled edge and how both will cut and why a beveled edge keeps it's cutting ability even when it hits metal, but unfortunately I can't find it right now.
I did find an old ARMA essay on a theoretical fight between a knight and a samurai:
http://www.thearma.org/essays/knightvs.htm
According to that, European armor succeeded in nullifying the cutting ability of swords. A sword, even a katana, can't cut through plate. Japanese armors were never as good, so katana could be used to cut through a samurai's armor and cripple him just like you said.
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Both styles had their advantages and disadvantages, but the way samurai armour is currently simulated in the game is quite a bit off. It could be bulky, but not nearly as bulky as it's portrayed in the game, and it was designed to allow a lot of flexibility and freedom of movement.
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I agree with this. From the above article:
"Generally speaking, European plate armor was designed primarily as a defense against sword points and other bladed weapons, whereas,
Japanese armor was primarily designed more as a defense against arrows and spears. Significantly, it frequently had open feet and hands and a design that permitted archery. The knight's encased armor by contrast was idealized more for mounted charge with lance and or for dismounted close-combat. Japanese heavy armor contemporary with the period of the High Middle Ages knight
was not considerably lighter than European plate."
The first bolded part implies that some kind of air shield or arrow parry ability wouldn't be out of the line.
The second bolded part implies that heavy samurai armor should have (at most!) as high encumberance as other heavy armors.
Besides, if the EA Oni already had samurai armor, surely it would be further improved. Since Jomon is getting an overhaul any way, it would be nice to have the armors finetuned. The encumberance could be lowered by 1 for all ages, or perhaps LA Jomon could get new type of armor with similar protection but lower encumberance and defense penalty.