Had you rather start with queens for rooks or an extra row of pawns?

Both of these options are technically "equal" in terms of relative piece value, but which bonus had you rather start with? With strong play, which side has the advantage?

OP is very imaginative. This made me laugh!

Wow. Thanks USC for the demonstration.

As the old saying goes..."One in the hand is better than two in the bush"...but what about sixteen in the bush???

As I sort of expected, black steamrolled. White, even with three queens, had to threefold in the end.

I wonder how it would go with human players. I think it would be a somewhat interesting variant. Something tells me - and indeed told me before I made the thread even though I wasn't sure - that black is much better from the very first move.

But maybe white is better. Isn't that a plus score according to stockfish? It's hard to imagine white having any advantage at all with correct play. It's a fortress of protected pawns. A human opponent would have to pay attention to so many potential breaks it would make his head spin. Black can open up and attack from anywhere - the tactics are endless.

But those three queens are mighty fine, though. I don't know...