Let's talk about our Red Rush strategy...

Yeah. Red rush is essentially effective only on map 131. On map 121, it's rarely possible to reach the opponent, and on maps 141 and later, there are so many resources that the increase provides only a negligible advantage. The main advantage of red is the first turn, which means an extra tempo in territory control. This matters for the first week or two. Then, red rush on map 131. In the late game, with many cities and control, red only has the ability to buy resources earlier for demonizing/transforming. Countering the red rush is incredibly simple: don't leave resources on tile 127 (1x7) within the opponent's reach. And if they are determined to attack a key city, meet them on tile 127 and fight in the field. In other words, with skillful play of blue (which, apparently, Dima Surmay and R55Max are not familiar with), the red rush can only work as a finishing factor. For example, if blue is unable to win the battle on tile 127. The advantages of blue are quite significant, and if it's debatable at the beginning of the game what outweighs what, in the late game, it's much easier to play as blue. That's why it's proposed to leave the ban on red rush only on those maps where blue cannot defend against it, even knowing about red's plans. These are small maps with a relatively small distance between the starting Castles and the nearest strong guard. For example, on the CM map, it's impossible to prevent the red rush due to the Guardian of the Castle, all other things being equal. Also, note that XL+U maps have been played with red rush for many years, and there have been no complaints so far. P.S. Throughout my gaming career, I've only been red-rushed twice, and both times it was due to my own mistakes: once, I saw the attack but messed up the movement calculation, and the other time, I consciously took a risk. P.P.S. There's an observation about bidding for a Castle in WT: if the bid amount does not exceed 1500, it means there is a balance between the Castles being bid on. So, the price for a color usually ranges from 700 to 1500 coins (XL+U maps). There are exceptions, but there are not many.