Quote Originally Posted by airsparrowhawk View Post
I've looked into it and a lot of shields in past civilisations came with spikes, sharpened edges and often came with large blunt objects attached. The Hoplites for example, an ancient Greek civilization, often fought with sharp edges on their shields so it could function as both a defensive and offensive weapon. In addition, many medieval styles of combat used a single-handed sword and a small shield called a Buckler, this shield was meant to function as a 'punching shield', sometimes sharpened, and not meant to take heavy blows but merely deflect them.
If it has spikes, it's usually a decorative thing. "Sharp" edges aren't really all that sharp on shields either. Lots of cultures did use them offensively, but they don't generally use either because there isn't any real point. You don't try to stab someone with the spike, it's just supposed to look scary so they stay away from you. You also never try to slash someone with the edge of the shield. Greek Hoplites and Roman Legionnaires used their shields extensively as weapons, but they don't actually try to bash people like I think you are thinking. If there is an opening, they basically try to tap them with the front edge of the shield. It doesn't sound like much, but those shields weigh so much they can very easily shatter a skull or break a limb that way.

Also, "punch" shields don't mean what you think. It's referring to how you block with them. You "punch" weapons out of the way. They are pretty much useless as an offensive weapon due to their low weight and small size.

Even so, the whole idea of "dual wielding" shields makes very little sense. The range of motion is too short. It will just look silly. Having a shield as an offensive weapon does work and has been done, it just gets ludicrous when you have two of them.