Ah, I see what I'm missing now. The "requires two hands" rule clarifies this. And its also very explicit in the FAQ: "Close Combat Q: Does a...
I must be missing something. The rules on shields seems pretty clear on p43 (complemented by rules on hand weapons and shield on p88). I can not...
Yes, no matter what they wield they get the +1 armour from shields. Just not the 6+ parry save.
Shields actually give +1 armour in close combat aswell.