@ RUFFHAUS 8 - no, I agree with you on the TSR, it's all about losing playability and constricting Russia's options, forcing him to abandon fronts he might not otherwise have to. Now, although I would think this would in fact hurt Russia some, the small sampling of stats we do have suggests that, that is not the case. Personally, I see changes to the canal rules in a number of variants, including this one, similarly, but of less magnitude to playability than the TSR. And nice analysis of Colonial. Not one of my favorite variants, but I don't dislike it either.