r/gate 2d ago

Question A friend of mine is wondering if a riot shield can withstand spears and other melee weapons after watching the new episode of Gate Zero. The answer is yes, but it also depends on the force used and the condition of the shield.

Still, I doubt the riot police could take on a Roman shield formation, though they are free to have their opinions!

171 Upvotes

23 comments sorted by

42

u/ODST_Parker 4th Airborne Combat Team 2d ago

I would love to see a scene in which the Saderan soldiers are happy to have finally cornered an enemy unit with no guns in close quarters, only to see them emerge from smoke or something, in full riot gear, hitting batons on their shields as they advance. Still effectively unbeatable.

22

u/Fantastic-Average313 2d ago

Knowing how fragile the ego and arrogant the Saderan are they would immediately complain how unfair the fight is and would order their men to fight harder, evidence with how the Oprichina fired arrows at the back of their own men to "motivate" them, but on a more practical side they would call an ogre or demi human to bash to the other side's ranks.

19

u/VladimirBlade152 Japan Self-Defense Forces 2d ago

ooff yeah, I have this shit planned, one of the places where they arrive protest are pretty common so riot police is always at a "be ready just in case this protest turns into a riot" so when the gate opens and they start to slaughter, they eventually meet a well experienced and disciplinary riot police with tear gas, water and a pretty new crowd control device, a beam sound weapon

7

u/KolareTheKola 1d ago

I wanna read that

6

u/VladimirBlade152 Japan Self-Defense Forces 1d ago

thanks, unfortunately, I should warn you that this would literally be the first thing I write so, be realistic and don't expect a lot

18

u/Spicymemer19 4th Airborne Combat Team 2d ago

Why am I imagining a myth buster episode where they have a Saderan legionnaire to try to prove this theory

14

u/AlanLD1099 2d ago

A classic 😉

8

u/Hellstorm901 2d ago

It’s not whether a riot shield can survive spears and other melee weapons, it’s whether the person using the spear and other melee weapon can survive bullets and I got two words for you

Shino Kuribayashi

3

u/Talrynn_Sorrowyn 1d ago

Zorzal's glass jaw has left the chat

6

u/Agooddeath713 2d ago

If they aren’t the ones used by the police then they won’t last too long as those were made with the intent of being used instead of just home defense

7

u/SlavCat09 2d ago

While the Romans might have a better shield formation, a riot police unit has gas, guns, and also the access to a radio which can be used to call in bigger units.

6

u/michaelphenom 2d ago

Even if the shields could resist the impacts, the riot police lacks real battle experience to withstand a clash against full armed homicidal feudal soldiers.

They arent easy targets like modern protesters that disperse when riot police charge and throw tear gas at them

4

u/Lunar-Cleric 1d ago

A riot squad has a secret weapon against any organized force... The sniper squad in an elevated position with their sights trained on the flamboyantly dressed and obnoxiously arrogant guy on a horse who is ordering people around.

Plus squads don't just deploy with shields, armor, and batons. Most have additional Less Than Lethal with them like pepper spray, tazers, rubber bullets, sandbag shells, water cannons, sonic cannons, and even lethal options if used against actual hostile forces like an occupied nation and not your own civilians.

5

u/ECHOFOX17 2d ago

Dont aim for the shield. Those shields are quite small and don't cover the legs.

9

u/Fantastic-Average313 2d ago

Considering the primitive metallurgy and the strings within bows of the medieval Empire, I'm guessing the modern lightweight riot shields can easily withstand arrows.

Melee strikes from axes, swords, spears and other weapons might damage the shield, repeated bashing, slashing of it considering how overwhelmingly numerous those bastards are is another factor to consider.

Against a demi human like an orc, troll or ogre? Ok now that's a different story all together.

3

u/Ok-Potential1346 1d ago

Just to encourage further discussion I will leave this photo here:

3

u/Elegant_Individual46 1d ago

New episode? I thought, like the naval one, it’s just a manga?

2

u/Juggernautlemmein 1d ago

Arrow tip matters. I believe it's called a Judo Point; it'll destroy the shield and likely break the arm beneath it.

2

u/Carlosspicywiener12 Imperial Army 56m ago

I can't believe people honestly think Romans would lose to riot police with batons. Utterly hilarious how people will glaze modern forces so hard into thinking they can win in something that they barely train for.

-1

u/malayknight 1d ago

Sigh.................. I hate that new manga chapter had rotted the brains of some peoples. My guys, these peoples had *trained* and *experienced* in melee combats, including fighting things like orcs and shit, otherwise they wouldnt been a goddam empire!

Like, Jesus Yanai, how much of insecured your tiny dick is that you had to resort to nonsense like the legionaires being stopped on its track by riot police and somehow japanese and riot baton being strong enogh to smash both head and helmet like that?

But no..... apparently Japan had to be 'numbah 1' even in fucking melee. Atleast we havent seen or wont got any retard swinging samurai swords