shields

hi there,
I've been looking aroudn in RTW. and when you see soem units fighting with a shield, they wield it like a buckler (hand in the brass, and stik it out forward)
pikemen do it, and to some degree also hoplites. my guestions therefore are:
-why are the shields of pikemen +- as large as the hoplon (aspis) ? even if they are equally in size. will the hoplon get a better def-bonus?
-will hoplitai, when fighting, hold their shield against their body? instead of wielding it 30 cm off their body(wich must be horrible heavy)

cheers, jerby

To be fair most shields in the period, with the notable exception of the hoplite shield, are in fact carried by a single handle running either down the middle or crosswise across the middle with the hand protected by an iron boss. Usually the most effective way to use such a shield is to hold it far away from your body, blocking your opponents vision and allowing you to push at them and block blows long before they come near you.

ahh, ok. but my question was indeed about teh hoplite shield.

start up rtw, let so pikemen break phalanx and start h2h. it looks really weird how they hold their shield. right?

Yeah, you can't hold a hoplite shield like that - they have a grip at one side a big metal hoop to stick your arms through. I think for RTW period, the hoplite shield when combined with the sarissa simply had leather straps for your arm, and one that slung over your head and shoulder, so you couldn't move the shield much, but could hold your pike with two hands.

pikemen shields very generally strapped tight. but in RTW, when you go h2h (no phalanx) they wield it strait forward like a buckler. very weird.

btw, spongly. do you mean hoplites or pikemen?