[Lafayette C Curtis]

I guess I still need to draw attention to the collective offensive use of the shield. In a coordinated rush by a shieldwall, even though each man holds his shield more-or-less passively in front, the formation as a whole is moving aggresssively forward and the shock of the physical and/or psychological impact would have had a somewhat different kind of effect than an aggressive individual use of the shield. This is where WMA practitioners and living-history groups often miss each other's points since one concentrates on indicidual encounters while the other deals with the tactics of massed collective action.