Actually the original rules banned all metal armour and the committee have dispite owning one or two spinners (ok I have 3) voted for metal armour. The thickness rule was introduced to stop everyone building heavily armoured pushers that were indestructable and boring. You have to remember that unlike all other weight classes Ants have a 50% drop of perimeter which gives a great advantage to pusher/lifter type ants. The last two encounters between MilitANT and Antomkia have both gone against the spinner and Antomkia uses a plastic toy body shell for armour. In fact I am so convinced that the rules favour pushers/lifters rather than spinners that my latest design has no spinner