So how would one handle a shield wall, rules-wise?
For those not familiar with the concept, the front rank of a body of troops overlap their shields, each protecting the man to his left.
The ideas we've come up with are as follows:
Each type of shield covers set locations. The shield cannot be used to parry, but it automatically protects against these locations at it's full value. To attack around a shield wall, the attacker must aim for specific hit locations not covered by the shield (legs, weapon arm, etc.). When one shield wall attacks another, the rules for closing are used (nBRP, page 219). When two shield walls are pushing against each other to achieve dominance, total the SIZ of all troops in each 'regiment' and apply a suitable divider to allow a roll on the resistance table. Three failed rolls in a row (accounting for attrition, obviously) means the shield wall is broken and normal melee ensues.
Can anyone see any issues with this? Any obvious 'broken' assumptions? Are there already BRP rules for a shield wall out there anywhere?