Louis,

Ok. I got a response from LT1956, and it is as you say. SPQR was made for SP. He can't play multiplayer, and it will never be balanced for MP. The problem with the shield is that SPQR was made for v1.1, and LT1956 says it's the RTW v1.2 patch that messed up the way shields work in SPQR. It's too bad because the graphics are nice and the unit selection seems better to me, i. e no dogs and pigs. So, the best thing is probably to make a new stat for RTW v1.2. The problem is getting players to agree on one stat.