- Sword of board is simultaneously missing the point 90% of the time of actual real world weapon combinations (here's a hint, people stopped using it because they had armor) and the lamest possible choice. Say no to mediocrity and sub-optimization everyone blindly considers 'the practical choice' kids.
I may be like ten pages late, but holy shit. Sword and Board is not suboptimal in real-life. Okay, maybe swords are weapons to show off your big-dick to someone else and the real king of the battlefield is the humble polearm (because of its cheap cost and easy to learn handling) but
barring the use of a pole-arm, shields are the best goddamn thing since agriculture (can't use sliced bread here.).
So you in your normal everyday life that doesn't have to deal with someone disemboweling you on a medieval battlefield where even the slightest wound is an invitation for gangrene and other infections to murder you might think that shields aren't a big deal but boy let me tell you. Shield + Single handed weapon of choice is almost always greater than any non-polearm double-handed weapon or daggers and knives.
So why is this?
Well, the main advantages of a doublehanded weapon is the force and reach offered offset by the danger of not having a shield in front of you in a chaotic and real fight.
So lets armchair analyze some fights.
I've been in all of like 12 practice bouts (Really more around 30 over the course of two weeks.) in my time so not a lot of experience... but I'm also drawing from others here.
1)
Range is king until it's not. If you have the shorter weapon, you can't let your enemy dictate control of the fight. You have to close, and that would be very dangerous perhaps suicidal except... oh wait, you have a shield. Warhammer, Longswords, and Great-axes be damned, they can be deflected by your shield easily enough (it's kind of the point of it) and bashing/cutting through a hardwood shield is a pure fantasy. This is also compounded by the fact that these weapons are also very comparatively unwieldy. And once someone is inside their reach, they can't be maneuvered. Recovering from this point on requires a combination of superior luck and skill and have fun doing that before some starts bashing your head in.
(Or drop the now useless weapon and pull a dagger/dirk and shove it through a chink in someone else's armor.)
2)
What is a murder strike? A Mordhau (yes the name of the game.) Is taking the pommel of your sword and caving in someone's plate armor after grabbing their weapon. Single handed weapons, especially maces and other weapons meant to punish plate armor are a valid tactic you don't need a double-handed weapon for this. Nor do you want to be taking blows on your armor if you can avoid it because if someone gets the chance, they can slip a dirk in through your face-plate. or Bash you into a bloody pulp and far more. Armor makes you harder to kill and should never be skimped on but it's not an invitation to take a hit where you could have deflected it, parried it, or dodged it. Plate Armor with lotsa padding did not in the slightest make shields irrelevant because taking a hit on a shield is infinitely preferable.
3)
Well, ain't that a kick to the head. I can't speak from experience on this one but getting hit on the head in plate-armor has been described to me as "ringing, jarring, fucking disorienting." followed by "Don't aim for the head, even lightly." which came as news to me since we were both waddled up and I 'only' had a quarterstaff (look I didn't understand how much a quarter staff used somewhat gently could hurt at the time ok?)
4)
Jousting armor =/= Combat-Capable Plate, because one of those was a death-trap on a battlefield rather than something that greatly increased lifespan in combat.
5)
Catches and Chinks. Chainmail is good, take it if you can. But be wary if a determined thrust with force behind it comes up because the spear point or sword point or whatever could catch in the links and be used as a way to better leverage and concentrate the force of a thrust skewering you even through your armor. This is also half the reason why you always always wear some sort of Aketon or Gambeson which are hands down the single most important part of your worn armor. If you can't take anything else at least get a Gambeson or Buff-coat or something. Trust me you'll want it. But this goes beyond chainmail. Any area where a spear point of sword point or what have you can get caught means a place where it can be shoved in at
least a little and unless you want to risk slow death by infection, wear your Gambeson and minimize the chances of that happening. Like with a shield.
6)
Pikes, Halberds, Pole-arms, Oh My. At the end of the day you'll lose to a massed line of these in a battle. Disciplined heavy infantry in half-plate or steel plated lamellar drilled will pole-arms to basic proficiency will still beat most anything in melee head-on. Shielded troops just last a little longer than unsheilded ones in this case. Have a plan or don't fight them head-on in a battle line and don't diss on the shield for failing here. It's a common failing considering the strength of these formations. What with the multiple lines of long-sharp pointy-bits that can also smash through armor/penetrate it and the nature of teamwork meaning that it isn't a series of one on one fights where a shield user can actually close.
All of this, however, is thrown out the window because Jaune lives in a fantasy land where dual-wielding full-sized swords works because you fight as much with the magic of your SOUL as with your weapon. Also dust and mechashift weapons.
Edit: Just vote for what you think is cool. And I may be a bit biased and think shields are really fucking cool. Just a little.
