Most definitely. A quick snap-shot of my opinions: double weapon & armour rank, make shield Rank about 5 (maybe 3?).
> [major snip] One thing we don't do in the SCA is hit each other's
> bodies with our shields. Why not? Because it is really easy to
really
> hurt someone! I wouldn't be surprised to find lots of damage being
> done by an orlanthi's shield boss or rim.
Well, in the Norse Film & Pageant Society (Viking re-enactment group - metal weapons & armour, 10th century accurate styles), we DO use shield charges. Full-weight, often leaping the last 3 feet or so for added impact. And yes, it hurts, lots of bruises, but nothing worse I've seen. Bashing with the boss to distract & blind is also popular. We're not ALLOWED to smash the bottom edge down onto our opponent's knee... but when using a kite or Legionary shield, kicking the bottom of your own shield into your opponent's shin is fun :)
One major tactic of the NFPS is the Boar's Snout. Against an overlapped shield wall, the attackers choose a point man (often me, as I'm among the heaviest...), with shield forward. Two others 'lean' on his shoulders from behind with their shoulders, overlapping their shields as an outside 'wall', one each leans on theirs, and so on in a large 'V' formation. At full charge, the point man is almost guaranteed to break the shield wall. He's also unlikely to feel too well afterwards (I should know). How's that for Augmentation?
In open combat, the shield is only of real use against a couple of opponents at most, assuming any others have the sense to circle around to bypass it. Maybe the shield could be a bonus to defence rather than extra armour Rank?
> EG, it seems to me the shield is under-rated in HW. I have no SCA
> experience but do have a dan in kendo and personally I would
consider
> facing someone with a decent-sized shield a major pain in, uh, not
> sure what hit location yet, but point sure to be driven home
> painfully. Not sure why, but shields don't appear to have been used
> in Japan. Maybe they were considered cowardly.
I believe shields were actually used, but almost exclusively for peasantry & archers, so probably they were considered cowardly. Also, of course, most Japanese weapon styles were two-handed, or at least switched from one to two.
Wulf
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