I mostly play mages and when I don't play mages, I play two handed characters. I haven't played a 1h+shield character in a long time and what draws me to it now is that shield bashing is actually quite fun, and certainly a lot more fun than doing the same with a weapon.

I'll be a Nord, of course and most likely use war axes because I like them and it suits a Nord to use axes (and shields). Sort of a viking-esque character except I'll cheat a bit and use heavy armor (easy mode, anyone?).

I rarely play warrior types or weapon users over all so getting up close and personal is going to feel quite weird.

It is in the beginning, but you'll get used to it!

If you play on PC, get one of those awesome shield mods and wreack havoc!!

Some great things about sword and board:

Can shield bash a breathing dragon in the nose and stop it's breath attack

First perk in tree is awesome and potentially all you ever need if you play a hybrid and need to conserve perks. (Powerbashing perks are glammed up, but overall not much more useful than a regular bash)

With shield hot keyed it is easy to switch back and forth to spells in left hand.

Great shields are available thru quests from early on, and you can use the console to level the shield up when needed, for instance Shield of Solitude. While Ysgramor's Shield has same enchant throughout that is pretty decent for a warrior. Spellbreaker is an interesting item to use and also available at early level if you can find a Flawless Ruby. Even without special shields, regular ones provide an extra slot for magic resist enchant. Many of my warriors either have a primary shield with resist frost, or a light one in reserve for mage fights as the frost spells are ubiquitous.

Combat feels better and more realistic. edit - and many of us do not use the Quick Reflexes perk because it can detract from that feeling of realism, and is potentially overpowerd, but that is up to you. However, if you want to take it is a powerful perk available at only 30 skill.

Oh yeah, I usually either play mages of Shield + 1h characters.

It can be extremely fun especially on PC if you have mods, you can get a few that really make shields feel like their worth it and add some real changes to the way blocking works. Me specifically, I think a majority of my characters use shields because I read the ingame book "The Mirror" and just loved it so much. I wish blocking had a lot more significance in the game then it really does, at least the vanilla.