#42
The Millner Barry Gambit is not bad, but it is not to be feared either.
Here is a recent example from Vachier-Lagrave:
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=2097003
And here is a classical example from Tal:
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1139522
I used to play 1.e6 2.c5 but the problem was after 3.d5 then 4.Nbd2 is a Tarrasch French and if not I thought I was out of options until I found 3.a6 avoiding all French's and going into a Drazic Variation of the Sicilian a rare sideline almost never played
Honestly, if you don't want to play any French lines it makes a lot more sense to choose another response than 1. ... e6.
I can also tell you from experience that it's a lot more useful to actually study a certain defense and get to know all the nuances (and learn to play all kinds of positions) than to play one single sideline defense.
I used to play the Hyperaccelerated Dragon (1. e4 c5 2. N.f3 g6) to avoid studying too much theory, but since I actually took the time to study the French defense and all it's (sub)variations I've become a much better player as a whole.