Maybe... but, to me a pitchfork or schythe or sickle should be peasant and not recruits... Recruits mean you agree to enlist in the army, so you get army weapons, right? If the unit called peasants then yes, I'd totally agree.. Even the the most raw recruit back then got swords, at the training was double weight wooden sword for builidng up muscles, but still, the quartermaster gve them their real weapons after itOnly swords and maces. No axes on them ever. Not really seeing the issue though, considering the sort of enemies the Empire goes up against- themselves.
I think its not at all a big deal. Some factions can be more standardised than others, but the Empire is by far the most uniform. Mace or sword makes no difference. And recruits having a random assortment of weapons sounds about right, considering what they are.