More pages soon.

Look, swords are cool. They are really cool, from samurai swords down to longswords and short swords like the Roman Gladius. Of course, the Chinese & Japanese swords are generally single swords or used with a sword and dagger, so we’re just going to ignore them.

Let’s talk about sword and shield formats. Generally, sword and shields have generally been used in large scale battles. The ability to lock shields during battle and to cover your shield mate is very important. It’s also very important because the ability to properly dual wield weapons requires a large amount of training, something that most professional armies are unable to do. Not to forget that most shields would offer greater protection over a larger space on the body, an important aspect when fighting more than one opponent. Lastly, in a packed combat situation, an edged off-hand weapon like a second sword would require a greater amount of space in the line. As such, sword and shield combinations were the most popular format for battles excluding of course the polearm.

Swords have varied in size and format depending on the shield and armour being used and that the opponent was most likely to face. The Romans often used a short stabbing weapon (the Gladius) with a large tower shield that they were able to lock with their shield mates. This provided a high degree of defensive ability with the shield but restricted their attacks to simple stabbing and cutting motions.

The Greeks and later Medieval Periods would see smaller round shields in use with longer swords. The long sword was a multi-format weapon, quite useful for single combat as well as multiple-opponent battles but required more space to use. This thus forced a reduction in size of the shield.

Lastly, during the rennaisance smaller shields were used; often no larger than a couple of hand sizes. At this point in time, with the advent of firearms, heavy armour was no longer a common practise. Mobility on the battlefield was a common requirement, and shields were often used in individual duels. They would later be replaced by daggers as duelling took a greater part of the combats an individual would face, with firearms taking over the battlefield.

These days of course, swords aren’t used anymore though you’ll still see Shields and Batons in play during riots as the Riot police take over the centuries old tradition of the shield wall and advancing against a mob.