The problem of the portable pavise has been solved!
Take 1 x Minifig Collection Series base and five bits from the Kingdoms series to make a perfectly feasible pavise for your minifig crossbowman!
A minifig base from one of the Collectors Series is ideal because when you attack a 1 x 4 flat topped brick to it you get something approximating the central gutter.
As you can see from the photos below, by using a minifig base, the pavise is about the right height for a minifig to stand behind and shoot his bolt. It also provides shelter when reloading the crossbow.
The pavise can also be “carried” by a minifig crossbowman on a 2 x 3 base. Simply remove the lugs that hold the pavise upright and lean it against the back of a slightly stooping minifig, with the bottom resting against the back two notches of the base.
When the pavise is set up, a direct hit with a crossbow bolt or longbow arrow (i.e. a plastic pellet shot from a Daiso bb gun) is likely to knock over the pavise. The crossbowman will then be exposed until he sets it back up again (taking one turn to do so).
A direct hit with a big catapult (using the projectile supplied in the appropriate Lego kit) is likely to knock down palise and minifig, in which case, throw for the minifig, removing one brick to allow for the pavise taking the initial shock of impact. (I am referring to my own rules, which have not yet been completed, or published. The use of Lego bricks instead of dice to calculate various outcomes was inspired by the Bricks Only Wargame rules, by Alban Nanty.)
