RE: Kombat Armadillo
Landing like a brick is all about wing loading the 'Dillo has a lot of weight for its wing area, and that defines to high wing loading. For a heavily loaded wing, the only choices are to go fast or fall.
Moving the wing forward or shortening your plane won't change the wing loading, so it won't make it land "better". The only practical way to make it float or go slower on landing would be to increase the wing area and you should increase the tail area by the same proportion. You could add way wider ailerons to increase the wing area but if you do, be sure to give them way less motion.
The only other thing you can do is add a couple pounds of lightness (i.e. take aff some weight), but that is not a practical approach.
About how a shorter airplane flies, it generally is more sensitive to control movements and less stable.