Kevin Pacey wrote on Mon, Sep 24, 2018 06:20 AM UTC:
I'd rate the RR army and the FF army about the same, though the mobilitity of a Q may give an edge to the latter. The CC army would seem to be at least slightly better than either (based on material valuations) IMO, but noting, perhaps very significantly, that it seems it could often be really awkward to develop both of the two waffles (i.e. not just one) that a player has with any speed, especially with the Black pieces (the edge pawns being unprotected at the start doesn't help either, especially vs. a FIDE army, with its Q). The NN army seems clearly the best army of the 4 in theory to me (based on material valuations), except I've yet to play with it, rather than against it. Thus I find myself pretty much agreeing with H.G.'s assessment of the 4 armies' relative strengths, though perhaps for many differing reasons.
[Edit: It seems my memory of the relative strength of the 4 armies that I estimated long ago was rather off. In any case, here's my current tentative estimates of each army's relative strength (based on material valuations alone):]
I'd rate the RR army and the FF army about the same, though the mobilitity of a Q may give an edge to the latter. The CC army would seem to be at least slightly better than either (based on material valuations) IMO, but noting, perhaps very significantly, that it seems it could often be really awkward to develop both of the two waffles (i.e. not just one) that a player has with any speed, especially with the Black pieces (the edge pawns being unprotected at the start doesn't help either, especially vs. a FIDE army, with its Q). The NN army seems clearly the best army of the 4 in theory to me (based on material valuations), except I've yet to play with it, rather than against it. Thus I find myself pretty much agreeing with H.G.'s assessment of the 4 armies' relative strengths, though perhaps for many differing reasons.
[Edit: It seems my memory of the relative strength of the 4 armies that I estimated long ago was rather off. In any case, here's my current tentative estimates of each army's relative strength (based on material valuations alone):]
FIDE:
Knight 3.5 approx. Bishop 3.5 Rook 5.5 Queen 10 Army (w/o Ps/K) 35
Clobberers:
Waffle 3.125 Fad 4.75 Bede 5.125 Cardinal 8 Army (w/o Ps/K) 34
Nutters:
Fibnif 3.125 Charging Knight 4 Charging Rook 4.9375 Colonel 8.9375 Army (w/o Ps/K) 33.06
Rookies:
Woody Rook 3.125 Short Rook 3.54 Half Duck 4.915 Marshall 10 Army (w/o Ps/K) 33.16