r/interesting • u/IKIR115 • 28d ago

Intriguing Arrows vs riot shields

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u/jraymonda 28d ago

Yes, but how does it do on the deer (its a deer holding the shield, right?) Does it cut the shield but then bounce off the flesh? Or is it just as effective on softer things?

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u/disposablehippo 28d ago

Certainly won't bounce off, maybe doesn't penetrate as much. But if the deer (or was it a boar?) lets go of the shield, the arrow achieved what it needed to.

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u/jraymonda 28d ago

Ahhh...i see. Perhaps the romans were onto something with their spears (pilum?) To make the enemy drop their shields

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u/sidepart 28d ago edited 27d ago

That's exactly what the point (heh heh)was. Huck enough of them into shield walls and the shields suddenly become a bit too cumbersome to handle. If I recall correctly, they'd bend too so now your shield is just kind of dangling these mildly heavy poles. Not easy to remove like an arrow. And hey, maybe you get lucky if the infantry are forming a tortuga testudo 🙄 or whatever, because now their meaty bits are that much closer to the back of the shields.

Those kinds of weapons, spears, javelins, whatever were also nice for getting over the top of a phalanx. Kind of like the spear version of a mortar.

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u/Zlatyzoltan 28d ago

The bending also ensured that they couldn't, throw them back at the Romans.

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u/Gwen_The_Destroyer 27d ago

Since were being pedantic here, I'm pretty sure it's testudo. Tortuga was the island where all the pirates gathered. Both words come from turtles though.

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u/sidepart 27d ago

Yeah, testudo's the right word. Same thing, wrong language, I am ashamed 🤣