Just a thought, not sure if anyone’s brought it up before, but what if the footman model didn’t get the shield until Defense was research. It always kind of bothered me that they have shields, yet i guess weren’t taught how to use them. It would be a bit reminiscent of SCII with the marine shield upgrade, I don’t even think it would be that difficult to pull off from an animation standpoint. Even considering the arm positioning, it shouldn’t look too off. Just food for thought, not really important.