The dev has spoken. We mortals hear and obey.

Half into armor was my proposal waaaaay back on Page 2 of this thread or something. We know we can't fix the problem totally on our end, so compromise a bit and find a balance we can live with. Getting rid of the buggy shield is the first step, now let's just agree on where those defense points should go. Since the shield only protects half or less of the soldier at any time, I vote for half into armor.

I play HA too (Parthian/Sassanid/Byzantine fan here), and I think I can say that there are more uses to outflanking than just shooting at vulnerable rears. Units seem to take morale hits just from having their line of retreat cut off in M2TW. Units also take morale hits from getting charged in the rear by the tougher types of HA. At the very least, running behind allows you to catch his routers more easily and divide his forces so your lancers can deliver the killing blow. It's not a completely lost cause. Half the shield bonus is around +3 for melee units and +2 for cavalry. This translates to around 15-20% less losses on average.