(Psi)SeveredHead
Adventurer
Samurai are the subject of so many misconceptions. No wonder designing a samurai class is almost impossible.
In the Genpei War (around 1100, IIRC) samurai weremainly horse archers. They wore heavy, boxy armor and may not even have traditionally carried swords.
In the following civil wars (Kammu Restoration: 1333-1336 and Sengoku 1467 to 1615) samurai were genenerally swordsmen and axemen, especially in the Kemmu Restoration, in which much fighting took place in the forests. Samurai still tried to fight on horseback, but often had to fight on foot instead. In this period, ashigaru often joined battles, using either loan swords (short swords) or spears. By the end of this period, though, the samurai relied less on them, except for gunnery.
In this period, the sword was used roughly equally as often as the spear, but swords are more portable and had higher esteem. Also, a spear duel probably doesn't look as cool as a sword duel, but that's just my opinion.
The "light armor" period came about after the Siege of Osaka (1614-1615). The famous samurai Miyamoto Musashi fought as a young man in this long battle. Following the civil wars, the samurai period was gradually drawing to a close. Without civil wars, keeping samurai busy and blooded was difficult. (The Shimabara Revolt, in 1837, has such wimpy samurai that the getting-old Miyamoto Musashi decided to write a book on how to fight.)
Since samurai weren't really warriors anymore, but were generally aristrocratic poseurs, they rarely wore armor. However, they did train and some were quite good. Jubei Yagyu was one such skilled "bathrobe samurai"; he fought in duels and skirmishes in this period.
So... which period are you interested in? That helps determine things like which armor type to wear.
In the Genpei War (around 1100, IIRC) samurai weremainly horse archers. They wore heavy, boxy armor and may not even have traditionally carried swords.
In the following civil wars (Kammu Restoration: 1333-1336 and Sengoku 1467 to 1615) samurai were genenerally swordsmen and axemen, especially in the Kemmu Restoration, in which much fighting took place in the forests. Samurai still tried to fight on horseback, but often had to fight on foot instead. In this period, ashigaru often joined battles, using either loan swords (short swords) or spears. By the end of this period, though, the samurai relied less on them, except for gunnery.
In this period, the sword was used roughly equally as often as the spear, but swords are more portable and had higher esteem. Also, a spear duel probably doesn't look as cool as a sword duel, but that's just my opinion.
The "light armor" period came about after the Siege of Osaka (1614-1615). The famous samurai Miyamoto Musashi fought as a young man in this long battle. Following the civil wars, the samurai period was gradually drawing to a close. Without civil wars, keeping samurai busy and blooded was difficult. (The Shimabara Revolt, in 1837, has such wimpy samurai that the getting-old Miyamoto Musashi decided to write a book on how to fight.)
Since samurai weren't really warriors anymore, but were generally aristrocratic poseurs, they rarely wore armor. However, they did train and some were quite good. Jubei Yagyu was one such skilled "bathrobe samurai"; he fought in duels and skirmishes in this period.
So... which period are you interested in? That helps determine things like which armor type to wear.