Alright, it's been a few days and I apologize. I've been thinking about the board a great deal and about the opening setup. I'm still not sure about the cannon. The more I think about it, the stupider the gold cannon is in this game. In a 2D game, the ability to move like a rook allows it to be repositioned in a useful spot. Here, because jumping is entirely reliant on making a capture, and because all pieces need to jump to be effective, the gold cannon is only effective when it has something to capture. The ability to simply move when there is no piece to capture is useful only when evading capture itself.........
What am I saying? This could be perfect! Why am I so naive? If one wises his cannon to serve as a defensive piece, he should do his best to keep the gold face up. If he wishes to use it offensively, he should use the silver face. the gold can remain close to the king while dodging enemy attacks, probably in conjunction with another defensive piece (and I'll show you my proposed setup and ask for your feedback shortly). So I guess we can keep both cannons, and as you said, have the gold be the weaker face.
Okay then. I looked carefully at your setup and I liked many of your ideas. However, I've toyed with it quite a bit and I want to see what you think.
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Let me explain a few things I have here. First, I feel it's important to have a decent amount of space between armies to allow players some space to adjust the positions of their armies. Second, I've moved the kirin/lion up front. This allows it to get involved quickly, but it also must be guarded carefully, as it's a very weak piece as a kirin, yet very valuable as a lion, so you don't want someone catching it kirin-side-up, ready to drop it as a lion. I've kept the lance near the front where it can get involved. In actuality, in a game like this the lance is a very weak piece, but towards the front in might get to see more action. Third, I decided to make the copper/silver general more defensive as it usually is in shogi games anyway. And in conjunction with the cannon piece, together their defense value is improved, particularly if a player wishes to move the C/S up one. But again, this position allows for two different defensive options off the bat. And since the silver cannon is so powerful, keeping it towards the back also prevents it from getting into the fray too soon so the game doesn't revolve entirely around it. The ramshead soldier has a lot of potential, but is also restricted in its mobility, so moving it up a bit gives it more opportunities. Most pieces can move on the first move, and there are enough short range pieces up front to give variation to the openings. I know it's different from what you had, but I feel it might work best like this. How do you feel? Any concerns? Wanna play a game with this setup?
Just understand, I am much busier lately, so I'm not sure how fast another game will go.