Other features of military life are described in the scripture. The bows and arrows, stones and slings, javelins, darts, axes, and various sorts of shields are well attested in documents and archaeological remains from Mesoamerica. The "thick clothing" worn defensively by the Nephites (Alma 43:19) seems related to the suits of quilted armor (ichcauipilli) used by the Aztecs and their neighbors. Salt or some such substance was placed between layers of cloth and the combination quilted loosely. This garment could withstand a direct arrow impact, yet it was so light and cheap that the Spaniards themselves adopted it. There were other kinds of armor as well. What the Book of Mormon calls a "cimeter" (in the modern dictionary "scimitar"), like its namesake in Asia, was a weapon to be swung. Its smiting power was sufficient to cut through armor (compare Alma 43:44) or to kill at one "stroke" (verse 37). The Mesoamerican parallel would be the weapon the Aztecs called the maccuahuitl, a hardwood club edged on both sides with razor-sharp obsidian blades. The Spaniards called this feared weapon a "sword," said it was sharper than their own weapons, and learned with dismay that one blow with it could cut off the head of a horse. Bernal Diaz, among the conquering Spaniards, also reported "broad swords" distinct from the maccuahuitl, but these are not elsewhere described, as far as I know. Now, a sword in normal European terminology would have a pointed blade that would be used with a thrusting motion. The Book of Mormon never makes clear that such a weapon was in use by Nephites or Lamanites. Only in one case is there description of a "sword" with any kind of point: a Nephite soldier "smote" a Lamanite leader, accidentally scalping him; then he carefully picked up the scalp, "laid it" on the "point" of his sword (rather than spearing it, as we might expect), and raised it aloft (Alma 44:12-13). This odd description fails to make clear exactly how the weapon looked. While the Book of Mormon text leaves us unclear about the appearance and functions of the Nephites' sword-like weapons, so do the sources on ancient Mexico and Guatemala remain unclear about some weapons. The agreement between scripture and outside sources seems adequate at the moment; no major problem is apparent in reconciling the materials.

One principle of ancient American military organization clarifies certain statements in the Book of Mormon. Sometimes a Nephite or Lamanite "army" is described, but in the larger engagements we read of "armies" on each side. Mesoamerican captains led their own forces composed of men in their kin groups. Leaders did not have absolute power, but they did wield heavy influence in decisions affecting war. They and their advisors chose whether or not to commit their militia units to a particular campaign. (Full-time soldiers were an exception.) Moroni had much to gain by persuading leaders of these lineage units to join him, it appears from Alma 46:28, 50:12, and 62:4-5. The Amlicites (Alma 2:7-16) and the king-men (Alma 51:17-21) were composed of kin or geographical units who withheld their support from Moroni's official Nephite cause. In the end the king-men were compelled to commit their forces and to "hoist the title of liberty upon their towers, and in their cities" as a symbol of loyalty to the central government (verse 20). The language used by Mormon to describe the final battle of the Nephites also becomes more comprehensible in this light: "And behold, the ten thousand of Gidgiddonah had fallen, . . . and Lamah had fallen with his ten thousand; and Gilgal had fallen with his ten thousand; and Limhah had fallen with his ten thousand," and so on (Mormon 6:13-14). At the time of the Spanish conquest, Bernal Diaz used similar language regarding the organization of the Tlascalan armies that faced Cortez. Five captains appeared on the battlefield, each with his ten thousand men—"Of the followers of the old Xicotenga . . . there were ten thousand; of another great chief named Moseescaci there were another ten thousand; of a third, who was called Chichimecatecle, there were as many more," and so on. Each group carried its unique flag. (The Tlascaltec army that opposed Cortez had a great standard "carried" by the commander, although actually the pole was strapped to his back.We recall that "Moroni, who was the chief commander of the armies of the Nephites," took a piece of his coat, wrote a slogan on it, "fastened it upon the end of a pole," and "went forth among the people, waving the rent part of his garment in the air," as told in Alma 46:11-12, 19.) The Tlascalans also wore different uniforms to show their units, and "each captain had a different device [insignia], as do our dukes and counts in Castile." The decision whether to fight was arrived at separately by each captain for his group. Moreover, a leader of a Mesoamerican military unit had a special relationship to his men: "The warriors serving under him were conceptualized in the kinship framework as 'sons and vassals.' " That recalls in the Book of Mormon Helaman and his 2,000 "sons" as warriors.