Shield boss: the misconception

**Nutsack** · October 12, 2006, 02:36 AM

Greeting i am a new member here in the TWC and i say hello to you all!

I've been reading around for about six months now and it feels like all of you are my friends, but i sometimes catch myself noticing that you've never even seen me before

Anyways i am an Dark Ages fan

and i have started collecting gear for viking/saxon re-enactments and... as i've noticed it seems like alot of people (that includes CA) doesn't know truly what an shield boss in medieval warfare was made for.

I believe shield bosses are created and used for protection of the hand, and to give a good central grip of the shield. I can give you a source right here: http://members.ozemail.com.au/~chris...ld/shield.html

There is a common misconception amongst the usage of shield bosses in our community today. For example, in the movie "The 13th Warrior" at the viking duel, one of the contestants used a shield and you could clearly see that there was no hole existing for the central boss and that he was gripping a piece of leather strap near the edge of the shield :hmmm: . This can also be seen in Medieval 2 Total War on some Norman soldiers:

See there?

I had another picture but Imageshack will not let me load it up for some reason.

I think we need to put this misconception down ONCE AND FOR ALL and maybe teach CA a lesson or two about history (Because this misconception has been bugging me for a long time). It is too late for CA to fix this before the upcoming M2TW release but MAYBE they can in the next TW game.

I hope you understood my point, and my post was readable and understandable, i am afraid you might not understand what i want to say because all too often do i get told that someone does not understand what i am trying to say in English. If you agree with my point, have an Wikipedia account (I don't), and feel like telling the truth to everybody out there and perhaps putting this issue to sleep once and for all please go and edit this Wikipedia article about shield bosses (which I think is incorrect):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shield_boss

Feel free to discuss (ESPECIALLY if you think my argument is wrong), and THANK YOU for reading this (hopefully you did lol).

**Giurza** · October 12, 2006, 03:01 AM

you ARE right... but you are that like hundreds of others here... many of us battle for historical realism in TW games... so long it is a war vs windmils...
btw congrats on your joining TWC!!!

**Nutsack** · October 12, 2006, 03:06 AM

Yeah i've seen that many shield out there in games are not historically correct, including RTW. Though i was very happy to see large shields and correct shield "constructions" in Arthurian: Total War. Too bad my BI does not work so i can not play it.

Thanks for your welcome and reply Giurza!

**napoleonic** · October 12, 2006, 04:35 AM

hmmm IMO you must post this on Medieval 2 Total Realism subforum

**Lusted** · October 12, 2006, 05:45 AM

So units do not hold their shields in exactly the correct place? Oh no, whatever next, units magically getting spears from nowhere when switching from swords?

**Boudicca** · October 12, 2006, 05:51 AM

As long as they don't look like Sonic or something...but truefully: I had never considered the use of the shield boss. Perhaps with ornamental shield bosses there would be none? From a practical point the use of a shield boss in the picture below really makes no sense at all...

**Nutsack** · October 12, 2006, 06:01 AM

Originally Posted by Lusted

So units do not hold their shields in exactly the correct place? Oh no, whatever next, units magically getting spears from nowhere when switching from swords?

haha :tooth: .. and flag unit banners not being held by anyone!

But no seriously what i would like to see is atleast larger shields, since if you hold your hand at the center of an shield versus if you hold it closer to the edge your upper arm will be exposed if you have a small shield. That's why real viking shields we're 80-90 cm diameter not like 40-50 like the ones in Viking Invasion. The majority of dark age round shields PLUS the greek Aspis shield (The ones the common greek hoplite used, including Spartans and Athenians), we're designed to protect from chin to kneecap, and i see way too many small shields nowadays.

**Lusted** · October 12, 2006, 06:04 AM

One of the problems with large shields i've found from modding RTW is that its very hard to stop them from clipping, eg going through other parts of the body during an animation. Thats why i think CA goes for slightly smaller than they would have been shields, as it provides a better look to the animations.

**Nutsack** · October 12, 2006, 06:28 AM

Originally Posted by Lusted

One of the problems with large shields i've found from modding RTW is that its very hard to stop them from clipping, eg going through other parts of the body during an animation. Thats why i think CA goes for slightly smaller than they would have been shields, as it provides a better look to the animations.

That's a good point

. But i would believe if CA truly knew the usage of shield bosses they would perhaps fix the models in M2TW, but from history we know that CA aren't really as petty when it comes to historical accuracy or realism like some people here in the TWC community (including me) which makes me sad. Hopefully we will see larger shields in some realism mod, or in the next TW game.