I'm still not sure if it is the best solution to put half shield value to armor and half to defence.
I think we have to distinguish shields, as not all shields are same. Those big shields most of spearmen holds are quite heavy and bulky. Spearman in close combat equipped with that shield and 2.5m spear will be not very effective in melee,but he will be able to resist missile fire and keep cavalry at bay with his spear. That why all spear infantry always fought in formation and were killed imidiatelly after formation was broken. I know that Romans used large shields in melee, but they didnt use them with large swords. Gladius was stabbing sword and therefore was easy to use with large heavy shield in formation.
At the other end, small shields are not that heavy ,they can help you to block blows of your enemy and provide limited protection against arrows.
My oppinion is that negative shield value should stay, as it allow to make units perform realistically against different type of attack. Units just need more balanccing work.
My suggestion is add same defence value as the shield has for all spear units (to negate " - " effect), and for all melee infantry armed with small shield to halve the shield value and add it to armor. That way melee units will have same missile resistance, flanking them will be a good idea (with shield fix it is unimportant) and negative bonus will not efect them that much.
It is easier to add few points of defence to all units that dont have shield and balance it to have autocalc work, than loose that kind of reality.
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