Never played 2 handed either nor used a shield. Should I? And what type of gear should I have? Also what race and perks I should get? Thanks for your responses

Wait...
You can do this, holy crap, when did the customisation get this deep, all of my characters have had two hands?

I have just started a 2H Nord and have been playing a 1H+Shield Imperial for awile now. It's a fun experience to bash people with a shield. For me, the 2H weapons are all about timing. Get your timing wrong and you'll be swinging all over the place while the enemy beats on you.

LOL'D....HARD.

I wasn't sure about playing a warrior but really have enjoyed it. They did a great job with the way shields work. It's really fun blocking and bashing. I use bash all the time to stagger or interrupt enemies. It works great against mages. For a weapon I really enjoy maces. I like the feeling of bashing someone's head in and the finishing animations are great. Swords are good too but I've done that before and wanted to change it up this time. I went with heavy armor. With the perks filled in it is better than light and has more perks available. The extra weight is a bother at first but once you get the perk that makes it weight nothing that all changes. I like the look of heavy on my warrior better and wanted to wear the Companion Wolf armor anyway so it worked out well. You'll have to decide if you like the look or usefulness of light armor better. I've seen that is a very personal decision.

Sword and Shield warrior that I am using now is my first, and also the most fun I've had on any character in Skyrim or any TES games.

I highly recommend a 1H+Shield warrior.

Roll a Khajiit and use yer claws.

Redguard, light armour, shield, curved sword. Can't go wrong with that.

You should do it, sword and shield is my favorite type of character so far in Skyrim. Shields are way better than they were in previous games, because of the shield bash and some of the perks like elemental protection. I think Redguard is the best race for one handed, but you can make any race work really.

I prefer 2-hand personally but sheilds are a step-up from oblivion, thats for sure.