Single Comment

Jeremy, I've considered letting only 2 white pieces move on turn 1. I
just
don't see that it makes any difference at all. However, I am perfectly
willing to offer alternate rules packages, and I will add that as an
optional rule for those who wish.

HG, in thinking about your arguments, I've decided we can add promotion
to
the chief series quite easily, although I am not entirely sure of its
effect on games until I push pieces a bit. For Chief, I would promote the
commoner piece only to a non-royal chieftain, using the other chief icon
without the grey band for the promoted pieces. In the Warlord series,
especially the larger games, I am inclined to promote skirmishers also. 

*********

What effect does this have on the promotion argument? Please understand I
am not trying to be sarcastic here. The promotion aspect totally
blindsided
me, and I am still trying to grasp its implications. I cannot tell in
Chief
what it will do, but I haven't tried to analyze that yet. It depends on 2
things: 1] whether white can grab a slightly larger share of the board;
and
2] whether that extra few squares actually translates into an increased
chance for promotion. 

It seems the extra squares grabbed, if any, should lead to a slight
advantage for white, in having less distance to go for promotion. But the
values of the pieces are not that disparate to begin with. And the
infantry
is the best piece to have a bunch of in the endgame, generally, because it
has the property of interdiction - leaders cannot just move directly past
infantry, stopping in an adjacent square, as they can for all other
non-leader pieces. It's a common tactic to trade long range pieces for
infantry at various points in the game. And the board is 12 squares deep,
so that means white has to get through an active defense that can afford
to
trade non-promotable pieces for those that do promote, for 5 squares
instead of 6. 

The noise level in Chief is high, and it only gets higher in Warlord. If I
understand correctly, it is argued that there should/must be a first turn
advantage, even in the very large scenario I playtested last night. Once
again, I have to leave the computer, so I'll post this and continue
later.
In the meantime, you might look at this page in the CVwiki, and note the
current, no-longer-experimental scenario, Border War.
http://chessvariants.wikidot.com/warlord-2
At what point does a game become so complex and so different from the play
of FIDE that in spite of every move in the game being a simple chess move,
there is no first move advantage?