Quote Originally Posted by Jambo
I imagine skill-fixed shields work fine for the human, but in terms of the AI I think it would have drastic effects on army composition and auto calc. In fact this option ONLY seems to benefit the human!

The armour-fixed option seems to the only real workaround to maintain a competitive and fair level of play, especially given the AI will never take advantage of enfilade fire.
Of course, I also modified the units without shields, i.e. upped their def skill, to compensate for this. I'm not saying it's perfect, but IMO it's still less of a one-dimensional solution, and for me a more enjoyable way to play the game.