Spear & Shield

An Infantry model that is armed with a spear may assist a friendly model, with the same base size or smaller, in a Fight in a special way. If an unengaged model armed with a spear is in base contact with a friendly model, then it may contribute a single Attack to the Fight using its own Fight value and Strength. Models that are assisting another model in this way are not considered to be part of the Fight and so cannot be targeted by Strikes, benefit from a Heroic Combat, be knocked Prone by a charging Cavalry model or be knocked Prone if the combat is itself knocked Prone for some other reason. They may, however, benefit from the effects of a friendly banner. A model armed with a spear may use it as a hand weapon in the Fight phase, although they may not make Special Strikes when using it. A model that fires a missile weapon during the Shoot phase may not support during the Fight phase. If the model using a spear is a Hero, they may still use Might points to improve a Duel roll and when rolling To Wound, but may not declare Heroic Actions in the Fight phase if they chose to support. In a multiple combat, the model using a spear may choose to Strike a different target to the model they are supporting. A model can only gain Support from one spear-armed model at a time, and a spear-armed model may only Support a single model during each turn. A spear-armed model can even support a friendly model that is Prone or armed with a two-handed weapon. A spear-armed model may Make Way for their ally if they lose a Fight. This counts as the one model who is allowed to Make Way for a friend.

A Shield increases the Defence characteristic of its bearer by 1. Where the shield is listed in the model's wargear, that bonus is already taken into account in its characteristics profile. However, if the model purchases the shield as an upgrade, you will need to increase its Defence by 1. Shields also have the following rules: Cumbersome: If a model uses a hand-and-a-half weapon as a two-handed weapon whilst carrying a shield, it will lose the +1 bonus to their defence for the duration of the fight. A model armed with a bow, crossbow, two-handed weapon or pike may carry a shield; however, they do not receive the +1 bonus to their Defence characteristic. Shielding: Prior to either player rolling any dice in a Duel roll, a shield-armed model who is involved in the Fight may declare that they are Shielding. A model that is Shielding doubles their Attacks when making the Duel roll to see who wins the Fight, however, they make no Strikes against the enemy, having put all of their effort into surviving. In a Multiple Combat, all friendly models in the same Fight must be Shielding for them to get the bonus. Thus, if one or more friendly models do not have shields, then none of them can use the Shielding rule. Spear and pike-armed models cannot Support a Shielding model. Models who are Prone can use the Shielding rule like other fighters - in fact this is a very sound plan, since a Prone model cannot make Strikes if they win the Fight anyway. Cavalry models cannot use the Shieding rule.