They didnt march with them on their backs,they transported them in the wagon trains. Common sense man. The Romans only marched with then when battle was immanent.
I know this, but still before an battle starts, it could take hours... Its dead weight you carry. And believe me before a battle start you are not gonna take those pilums just 5 minutes before the battles starts out the wagon. You certainly do this a day or so before a battle. I do understand that during long marches the armor and other gear is either carried on wagons and horses or on your back.
But lets assume that you just received you pilums, the dead weight should slow these soldiers down, enourmously (until thrown)
ive chopped probably more wood in my life than many here, stop with the personal assumption as if they informed the idea. They don't. Basic warfare history does. I'm not making that argument. If you read my post the point is the shield is unusable, not shattered. That's just the game mechanic.
One of my hobbies is chopping wood, I also need it to warm my house so I chop at least 1 cubic meter of wood each year. So i know what I'm talking about.
If you got a decent axe (definitely 2 handed), the only way to break a shield (not guaranteed) is if you hack from over year head, side strokes will definetely not work, or perhaps a lucky shot now and then on a weak shield. Moving the shield or absorbing the hit would also stop the shield break. Because hitting a piece of wood that is stuck or pressed against something hard is easy.. also dry wood is easy to hack,., but wet wood, or wet wood against a muddy or soft underfloor (like an arm and body) just absorbs the hit. The chance of you axe getting stuck in wet wood is really high. Especially in combat situations
If you do hack into the shield the chance is high 60%+ that you lose your axe which get stuck in the shield, and if so, then hopefully you are lucky and pierced the arm of the wearer. if not you just lost your axe.
No chance of doing this with simpel arrows. Also extremely difficult to do with sword or spear.