[Nagot Gick Fel]

Originally posted by Hully:
Also what does basic include,

Nothing. Basic means just that, basic.

If the unit come with a shield is that included in the basic total for the unit and if not why not?

Because you can easily replace shields on commanders, or equip them with 2-handed weapons which make shields irrelevant. It makes no sense to compute a new basic defense value each time you give new stuff to your leaders.