Armshields are protective equipment worn by Nephite soldiers in battle. Nephite breastplates, armshields, and head-plates shielded “the more vital parts of the body” from Lamanite strokes (Alma 43:38).
Some Nephites fell “by their swords and the loss of blood,” while the protected Nephites carried on the work of death among the Lamanites (Alma 43:38).