User:Forerunner93/Tower shield

Tower Shields: A Brief Description
The Tower Shield was used in medival warfare as a means of cover and full body protection. Though cumbersome for the average man, heavy soldiers learned to proficently use these shields to protect their fellow soldiers. The Tower Shield was almost the size of a normal average man, about 5-6 feet in length it usually would cover the wielder's body almost completely (because thats what they were designed to do). Because of their large size and bulk they earned the name "tower shield" or "seige shield" in some cases. In popular media movies based on medival times such as: Lord of the Rings, or even video games such as World of Warcraft have content based on the use of the tower shield.

Time of Use
The Tower Shield was primarily used during the Roman Empire Era, the "Dark Ages", the Renisance, and during the crusades to jeruselem. The Tower Shield was believed to have been first used (in recognizable amount) by the Romans in the storming of enemy keeps. The Tower Shield's use in warfare came to an end around the time of the invention of the first "powerful" firearm which could easily shred through the shield leaving the weilder with no means to defend himself, and with the disadvantage of a large shield that would prevent him from being able to defend himself.

Uses on the Battlefield
The Tower Shield was used for a great many things during the "Dark Ages", the shield was used as a "blocker" for most attacks, where as a smaller shield such as a buckler or targe could not defend against, such as early firearms, crossbows, and arrows. In some cases the wielders of the Tower Shield could cover the fleeing or charging soldiers as they fought, usually they were either the front line of the last line. A soldier trained in the tower shields use could be the equivilent to an entire group of shieldsman, due to its size and bulk the tower shield was used little by ordinary soldiers due to the fact that it was simply to heavy or troublesome. Because of the Tower Shield's enormous size the user was limited to little weapon variation, only one-handed weapons could be used efficiently, and even then they could not move easily because of the weight of the shield. The Tower Shield was only truely designed to defend the wearer and the people around him/her. Sometimes providing cover for a fallen ally or a medic who is trying to assist said soldier. The tower shield was only a piece of armor to be used by those trained in its use, the heavy soldiers and guardsman were the only ones known to use with knowledge of their use.