I and several others have long since been affected by this bug. Not just in strategus, in crpg as well. For as long as I remember there has been a seemingly random(and mostly harmless) bug that removes pieces of equipment for what seems to be no good reason. After the armor is removed and you spawn without it, when you go to your equipment screen you see one of two different things: You either see the item equipped or you don't, when the item IS there, you have to either select a different item, then select to equip the problematic equipment, or If there is no equipment in the slot, then all you have to do is re-equip the item and when next you spawn, you'll have it.
I would imagine this bug is similar to the strategus bug. I can't exactly give more information on this as strat battles are less frequent than crpg battles, and it seems to be every bit as random, especially when you have some people spawning with the items selected and then other people not spawning with those items.