Shield

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.