Unbalanced Scutum

[ambrosius]

By gladiator style I mean to rotate the scutum 90degrees, hold it horizontally and punch with the lower edge. .. or held horizontally, punch straight out with the umbo.

Yup, that's what we both said. 8)

I disagree quite strongly with the idea of punching straight out, scutum vertical, and hitting an opponent with the umbo. That method can be defeated with the pinky finger of doom unles the shield is very light or small

Me too. Another negative point about punching with the boss of a vertical
shield is that you are blind-spotting yourself, since you have to raise
the shield in order to get the boss to the level of the enemy's face. So
not only are you exposing yourself :o round the sides, and from the
waist down, but you cannot see what the enemy's doing. But letting the scutum tip back to the horizontal, and punching with the lower edge, still allows you to see over the top of it to see what your target's up to. 8)

Ambrosius/Mike