(Answered) Shields

[BirdofPrey]

or, how to do crazy things with sheets of metal.

Shields in active defense mode defend everything on their side of the mech (everything except the rear CT and the Arm, leg and side torso on the opposite side).  If for some insane reason, a mech just happened to have a shield in each arm, both would be defending the center torso and head.  What happens if an attack strikes one of these locations in such a situation?  Is damage applied to each shield in turn or just one shield, then the location behind it, and how is it determined which is struck first?  (My inclination would be that you could just use the kick table for this, replacing left/right leg with left/right shield)

Another question is how shields interact with spikes.  Do physical attacks that hit a shielded location with act as though the spikes aren't there, do the spikes reduce what damage penetrates the shield, or is the arm considered the stuck location when checking for spikes?

Lastly, does lacking a lower arm actuator or hand reduce the DA or DC of a shield like it does if the actuator is present, but damaged?

[Welshman]

1- Only one shield applies, roll to determine which.

2- Spikes: If the damage gets through the shield, spikes operate as normal.

3- Actuators: Yes. You need a hand to use a shield properly

[BirdofPrey]

So a large shield mounted on an arm with no hand or lower arm actuator only has a DA of 5 then?

[Welshman]

Correct- It would be like strapping a shield to your bicep and trying to swing it around. Not very effective.

[BirdofPrey]

Makes sense, strapping it you your lower arm gives you more control.
I am a bit confused how the hand actuator has any effect on the shield, however, since the rules explicitly state it is bolted to the arm.

At any rate, thanks for the answers.

[Welshman]

Makes sense, strapping it you your lower arm gives you more control.
I am a bit confused how the hand actuator has any effect on the shield, however, since the rules explicitly state it is bolted to the arm.

At any rate, thanks for the answers.

In my younger days I did SCA heavy fighting. Even though the shield is strapped to your forearm, you also have a hand through a strap or handle. This allows you great control of the leading edge of the shield and faster response to rolling the shield.

[BirdofPrey]

Erm, not sure exactly what you're saying, but whatever.  I thought strapping a shield to your arm would be rather non-rigid, and the hand-hold is to compensate for that fact, which wouldn't apply to something that is part of the arm.  Rules is rules, though, so I'll file that next to the RPG concept that tower shields are better than bucklers because they are bigger.
 
Unfortunately, you have now piqued my interest on the off-topic.

[BirdofPrey]

I think I am going to errata this, it's a complicated set of rules so I'd like to ask you to sign off on it first as it were to make sure they won't have to errata the errata.

pg. 287
in the construction rules for shields after "Shields have no special actuator requirements" add, ",but each missing actuator reduces the DA and DC of the shield by 1"

[Welshman]

That's enough for our errata coordinator to work with.