Belegarth

Hello again Belegarth forumites! I have been lurking for the last several days reading up on as much spear fighting information that I can find. One thing I notice is all the guys I see on YouTube and such fighting with 8 foot spears don't have back shields on.

A little history, I have been rolling sword and board with a standard Edhellen round shield and a long mace since Armageddon 2012, and I've been loving it. However, three weeks ago at practice, I was able to use a good friend's six foot glaive. Being a scrawny noodle-armed 135lb sissy, I can't swing hard enough reds, so I was using it like a heavy little spear. And it was outrageously fun! I loved it, and so I think I have fallen in love with the idea of being a spearman.

Skip forward in time a bit, last week I got my hands on an 8 foot band pole, which I immediately turned into a 4" diameter low profile spear. Now that I have it, I've been looking up all kinds of advice and tips that I can find with spears. Sadly, there isn't very much out there, but from what I see, nobody wears big back shields. Even Batman, a guy I have a ton of respect for after watching him spear it up at Armageddon, never once wore a back shield.

That was my plan, in my mind, to wear my standard Edhellen round shield across my shoulders. That way when I stand stabbing at people, they have a harder time hitting me on that side. Is that a bad idea? I don't know how it could be, but I don't see anyone else doing it, so I am worried there might be a very good reason I am overlooking.

One final thing. Another point that I see a lot, especially on these forums, is that learning how to be a good spearman is a lot of hard but rewarding work. I read that it really isn't recommended for newbs like me, but I had so much fun using my friend's that I really want to try. Does anyone have any final tips or tricks for operating one of these that I could find useful? Techniques or just different ways of thinking or even outlooks on the attitude of a spearmen, I am like a sponge soaking up whatever information I can find.

I really appreciate anything and everything. Thanks in advance!

As I'm sure this is going to turn into a **** about the viability of back-shields whether it be historically accurate or toeing the line of cheesing the rules, I'm going to chime in and give you my two cents before that happens.
I highly suggest you do this if it's something you want to do. It's going to even the spread between you and the ever prevelant S&B users. Dominant S&B is still gonna make a mockery of ya, but it'll help with a lot of the mid-tier fighters and those not used to it.
I use a back-shield for * sword, flo and pole-arms. It helps if you're aggressive and prone to closing the gap and getting into the grind; I personally am all about this and have found a lot of the limp-wristed, lop-dick attempts at a reactionary spamming of a wrap-shot to my back is all but nil at this point.
It could in theory lead to you relying on it and taking what some could perceive as the 'EZ' route to Cheap Street. I find it the opposite; I find I'm forced to really use a lot more body-fakes and having a static defense is worthless if you can't move around it so I highly suggest practicing moving your feet a LOT to get used to getting around with it.
Also, if you're gonna be on a line, you're gonna find your shield getting stuck on people when you try to squeeze past, often to hilarious results.

Thanks for the insight. Pretty much every single time I've died at Armageddon was to a dude with a massive shield and a long flail to my kidneys, so I was hoping this would be a smart idea.

And forgive me, but what do you mean when you say "Body Faking"?

You're gonna need to juke and use your body to think you're gonna do one thing, setting them up to throw a shot when in reality you're tricking them into throwing that shot or doing something so you can capitalize on this. This is called second-intention in fencing and chess. We call it faking and feinting, but with your gear set-up, you're gonna need to learn how to sell you doing one thing then do the opposite.
One subtle thing I will do is start with my left-side forward, my foot and my arm facing the generally right-handed opponent's strong sword-side. I'll do a quick stutter step into their range, and as soon as they move I'll switch my feet in place to my right-side forward, effectively taking away that open side of my body away from them, blocking their sword and counter-riposting. Considering how often wraps are being thrown, this works something like 80-90% of the time.
There's a lot of different things you can do, most likely you're gonna have to discover them yourself. Just remember that Sun Tzu was right in saying that all battles are best won via deception.
Also think about carrying a side-arm or two.

Whenever you get around to making your back shield, make sure that you don't end up limiting your mobility. It's easy to make a big ol' shield that ends up too wide and hinders your range of motion from shoulders out. You should be able to comfortably roll your shoulders and bring your arms behind your back even with the shield on. Its main goal, as Remy pointed out, is to stop those wraps and shoulder chops that everyone loves to smack spearmen with.

As a right-handed spearman my right shoulder was by and far my biggest weakness. I tried a backpack shield but it got in my way too much. I opted to build a shoulder buckler that has worked out amazingly well. It allows me to hide behind it for arrows, blocks the vast majority of shots to that side, and has been deemed an evil magical force in my realm. It was a piece from an old fiberglass boat I cut apart. About 12" by 18". The way it sits it protects the majority of the right side and back while me spear protects the left and front. A sidearm is invaluable. I use a burda that's green and blue for when they close range. This is the best picture I have to show the design of the shield and how it sits. http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s720x720/563555_402462626478144_18517217_n.jpg

Thanks everyone!

http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr16 ... ladius.jpg

I have made myself a shortsword with a 16" blade and a stabbing tip on top. I will now be a dork and pretend it's a gladius. Thanks for the idea of a shoulder shield too, that's an excellent idea. For a while though, until I have monies, I was planning to stick to wearing my 28" round shield across both shoulders like a seatbelt. My chest and neck are small enough to do this comfortably, but if I get any broader shoulders I will need to make the strap longer. What do you guys think?

When I get income I think I will make one of those shoulder shields.

Sorry to double-post! But we had a very excellent practice today and I got to use my spear with my shield on my back. It didn't get in my way and it even caught a few shots! But it never saved my life, because the only times people were hitting me, my team was already all dead. I think I now understand why nobody uses giant back shields. The only time they can really help is when it's already too late. :O

I will still wear it at large events though, to help cover me from archers. Thanks for the tip to make a sidearm, it helped out a ton today!