Risk Board Game

by admin on March 17th, 2009

Risk is a game board produced by the Parker brothers since the 1950’s. It was conceptualized by a French film director named Albert Lamorisse and one of his colleagues contacted the Parker Brothers to have the game published.

It has a very simple objective that will take about 6 to 8 hours or even more to achieve. All the players need to do is conquer the opposing player’s territories by eliminating all their armies on the mapthrough attacking opponents’ territories. The winner of the game is decided when all armies of the opposing players are eliminated from the map. In simpler terms, what the players need to do is to conquer the whole world.

This game is very much a favorite of game board enthusiasts. Becuase of this, the Parker Brothers, which is now a subsidiary of the Hasbro Company, has produced variants of the game. The company has produced and manufactured variants of Risk with different scenarios and even different territories. There are Risk board games where you have to conquer the moon or some underwater territory or just Europe. This is one classic game that will continue to prosper and will continue to produce various scenarios and maps.

In fact, Risk is considered to be one of the most played war game in history. To think that this game has survived since the 1950’s is a testament to its interesting, fun and stimulating game play features.

Since the board game is actually a strategic and tactical game, and since there are a lot of strategy games produced for on-line and computer gamings, the publishers of the game has decided to produce this very same game as a computer/on-line strategy game.

Risk is a game that could be enjoyed by every man, woman and child over ten years old. This is the perfect game for friends and family during during family reunions or when hanging out.

Risk Equipments and Pieces

by admin on March 17th, 2009

Pieces

The game of Risk is a board game that requires 2 players minimum up to 6 players maximum. Each of these players are given pieces which will represent their armies. Their armies, depending on the version of their Risk Board Game will either be made of wood (for older versions), plastic (for present versions) or metal (for the Anniversary Collector’s edition).

For the earlier editions of Risk Board Games produced, the pieces that represent the armies are made of wood. They are then divided into different shapes, each of which corresponds to a specific number of armies; cubes represent one army each while rounded triangles represented ten armies each. Later on, these pieces were manufactured in plastic because plastics had cheaper production costs.

During the 80’s, the shapes of the pieces were remodeled into Roman numerals I, III, V and X; each corresponds to different numbers of armies as well. The present designs and shapes of the pieces that are presently used in the game was introduced during 1993. The shapes turned into more complicated and more complex figures: infantry, cavalry and artillery. The infantry represents one army, the cavalry represents five armies while the artillery represents ten armies. The anniversary Collector’s edition’s pieces are also a bit different. They are still shaped as infantries, cavalries and artilleries but instead of being made in plastic, they are made of metal.

Every game board should have six sets of army pieces. Each set has its own color so that the pieces could be identified by the players as its own set of army piece.

Cards

The game includes 56 game cards. 42 of these cards are Risk cards; they would contain an illustration of a territory, plus an illustration of either an infantry, a cavalry or an artillery. There are also two wild cards included in the deck of Risk game cards. During the game, players will be given cards and they will need to collect a set of game cards. These cards could be traded for additional armies or reinforcements to be used by a player.

There are 12 Mission cards also included in the deck. The Mission cards contain secret Missions that you will have to accomplish during a special game called the Secret Mission Risk. You don’t use these cards during a regular game so you can separate them from the deck when playing a regular Risk game.

Also included are 4 Strategy Tip Cards for Beginners.

Dice

The board game also include 5 dices: 3 reds and 2 whites. The red dices are casted by the attacking player while the white dices are casted by the defending player.

Drawstring Pouches

There should be 6 drawstring pouches included in your set of Risk board game. These drawstring pouches are used to keep your unused armies. They keep your pieces from being scattered or lost.

Game Board

The game board will be a tri-fold world map. The world map is the real world map that we’d use in Geography or History class. It has 6 continents as well but each continent has its own color. This defines the space and the border of each continent.

These 6 continents are divided into 42 territories. The continents would contain between 4 to 12 territories. It is the objective of each player to take control over the 42 territories in the Risk world map to be considered the victor.

Risk Global Domination Rules

by admin on March 17th, 2009

To win at Risk, you must first know to the rules and the mechanics of the game. It is actually very simple, especially once you have already understood how it is played. The strategy to win may be difficult since it may vary with every other player you go up against, but how to play the game is easy to understand. You just have to remember that the objective of the game is to eliminate your opponents’ armies. Thus, all you need to do is achieve Global Domination.

Risk Before the Game

Before you actually play the game, you should already be planning your strategy as you place your initial army during the set up. Unlike most board games, Risk will requires careful planning during set up so that you could have an advantage in terms of positioning your armies.

During Setup, each player will be given a certain number or armies - for a two player game, each players will get 40 infantries; for a three player game, each players should get 35 infantries each; for a four player game, each player should receive 3o infantries each; for a five player game, each player should get 25 infantries each and for a six player game, each should get 20 infantries each.

These infantries are to be placed in the territories in the map, they will serve as markers or as claims to the territories. Each player will take turns in placing territories. The first to position the first piece is decided by the dice. Players have to throw the dice and whoever can roll the highest will be the first to put his infantry in the map. Whichever player in on the left of the first player will place his piece next, followed by the player on his left, and so on and so forth. This will go on until all 42 territories are occupied.

Once all the territories are occupied by all the players of the game, the remaining pieces of each player will now be placed in the respective territories of the player. This will be done alternately until all the pieces of each player, distributed before the game, are placed in the map. There is no limit to the number of pieces or infantries that you can place in one territory - this part now will depend on your strategy.

Once all the pieces are placed, you can now take out the deck of Risk cards. Take out the Mission Cards because you will not need it in the Global Domination game. Remove the Strategy Tips Card from the deck as well. Place three of the Strategy Tips where all the players can reach while sliding the fourth under the map. This Strategy Tip card will be the marker for the number of armies or infantries you can trade in later on during the game.

When all these are done, the game may start. The highest roller of the dice prior the placement of the pieces shall be the first to take a turn.

Risk Game Play

Once the game has started, you should set your strategy in motion already. Try to win and conquer as many enemy territories as you can. You can only occupy enemy territory once you attack and defeat the present occupant.

Per turn, a player has three steps that he could choose to perform or not in the game: get new armies, attack enemy territory and fortifying your borders or your territories. The second and third steps are optional. You may or may not perform the second and third steps every turn but never forget to get new armies during the start of your every turn.

Risk Additional Armies

During every start of a player’s turn the player is entitled to get new armies. The number of reinforcements the player could receive will depend on four factors: The number of territories you occupy; the value of the continents you control; The value of the set of Risk Cards you are trading in; and the specific territory image on the of Risk Card you are trading for armies.

At the beginning of your turn, including your very first turn, count the number or territories you have then divide it by three, the quotient will be the number of armies you’ll get for that turn.

Example.

If you have 14 territories, divide it by three, the answer you’ll get is 4.66. disregard the fraction, the number of armies you’ll get is 4.

The lowest number or additional armies you could get is 3. Even if the number of your territories is less than 9, you should still get additional 3 armies for that turn.

Now, if you control a continent, meaning you occupy all the territories in one continent, you will also get additional army during every turn corresponding to the equivalent number of armies assigned per continent. To identify the number of additional armies a player should get for controlling a specific army, you could check the table in the lower left corner of the map.

You can trade sets of Risk Cards in exchange for additional armies. You could get ONLY ONE Risk Card after every turn that you have conquered at least one enemy territory. You have to collect a set of Risk Cards before you could trade it in for additional armies. There are three possible combinations to form a complete set of Risk Cards : three of a kind, which means you have three cards that contain the same image (either three infantries, three cavalries, or three artilleries); you have one card of each, (you have one infantry card, one cavalry card and one artillery card); an incomplete set of either one of the first two combinations plus a wild card ( wild cards contain all three images and can be used as any one of them at a time only).

Once you have collected a set of Risk Cards, you have the option to trade them for additional armies at beginning of your next turn or you can hold on to the set first and use it when you deem necessary. If by chance, you already have five or six cards, it is mandatory to exchange a set of cards for additional armies. The number of Risk Cards you are holding on to should always be less than five cards.

When you have decided to trade in your set of cards, the number of armies that you could get will depend on how many sets have already been traded prior to your turn to trade. The number of armies that you could trade in starts with 4 armies, the second set will get 6 armies, then the third will get 8, the fourth to trade a set will get 10 additional armies, the fifth to trade shall get 12 additional armies, the sixth to trade a set will gain an additional of 15 armies.

It is not necessary though that the same person should be trading the sets to have an increasing number of equivalent armies to be traded. This count includes the trades of other players. This means that if player A trades the first set of cards, he’ll get addition 4 armies. If player B trades in a set of cards after player A’s turn, player B should get 6 additional armies and so on and so forth.

After the sixth set of cards, you’ll just have to get 5 additional armies for every set of Risk Cards you trade in. This means that if player C trades the sixth set of cards, he’ll receive 15 additional armies. Now if player D trades his set after player C’s turn, Player D should get 20 additional armies. If player E trades a set of cards after that, Player E should get 25 additional armies and so on ad so forth.

The Risk Cards that you collect will have illustrations of specific territories. If you own at least one of the three territories in the set of Risk Cards you traded, yo will get an additional 2 armies. 2 armies is the maximum number of additional armies you could get under this situation. Even if you own three of the territories in your set, you can only get 2 additional armies.

Once you have received your additional armies for the turn, remember to deploy them properly. Risk is not simply a number’s game. Winning the game will depend heavily on your strategic deployment of armies and your tactical timing of attack.

Risk Attacking

Once you have deployed your armies to your territories, you now have an option to attack an enemy territory. If you do not wish to attack an enemy territory, you can pass the dice to the player to your left and wait till your next turn.

If you choose to attack an opponent’s territory, you’ll have to be aware of these rules:

• You may only attack an enemy territory that is adjacent to one of your own territories. If your territory or if the enemy territory you wish to attack is an island, there is no adjacent territory but there is a dashed line. You can attack an enemy territory that is connected to yours by this dashed line.

• The territory you are attacking from must have at least two armies. The reason for this is that the territory you occupy should always have at least one army. So if you occupy an enemy territory you must deploy at least one army to that newly acquired territory while leaving one to where you attacked from.

• You have unlimited attacks. As long as you have enough armies on your border, you can constantly attack an enemy territory until your opponent has no more army left in that territory or you can opt to shift an attack to another territory that is adjacent to another one of your territories. You may attack as often and as many territories you want per turn.

During an attack, you must first declare who or what territory you are attacking and which territory you are attacking from. Then you can roll the dice against your opponent. The battles are decided by the roll of the dice.

Before rolling the dice, both the attacker and the defender must declare how many dice they intend to use. The attacker has the option to roll 1, 2, or 3 red dice, while the defender has the option to roll 1 or 2 white dice. It is important to remember that the number of dice to use will also determine the number of casualties one player may suffer from an attack or from defense; the more dice you roll, the more armies you may lose. The number of dice rolled during an attack also determines the minimum number of armies required to move to a conquered territory if the attack is successful.

With these considerations, it is imperative that the attacker must have at least more than one army on the territory he is attacking from than the number of dice he decides to roll during an attack. Whether he wins or loses, he still has at least one army in that territory.

On the defense’s side, if he decides to roll two dice, he must at least have two armies in that territory.

To decide the victor in a battle, the two players must compare the outcome of the rolled dice. Identify the highest rolled dice by both the attacker and the defender, if the defender’s dice is higher, the attacker loses one army from the territory he is attacking from. If the attacker’s dice is higher, one army from the defending territory is taken out.

If both attacker and defender rolled two dice, then compare the second highest dice of each player to determine who lost the battle. In case of a tie, the defending player always has the advantage, meaning the defending player wins so the attacking player must remove one army from the attacking territory. It is important to remember that an attacker cannot lose more than two armies in one roll. The purpose of the third dice is merely to increase the chance of the attacker to win the battle without risking a third army.

If you have eliminated all the armies on an enemy territory, that is the only time when you can consider having captured that enemy territory. You must occupy this newly acquired territory immediately. The minimum amount of armies you could deploy in this territory is the number or dice you rolled. The maximum number depends on you. You can deploy as many as you want as long as you leave one of your armies on the territory you attacked from.

You can choose to end your attack at any time. Declare your intention to end your attack for that turn, then if you have acquired an enemy territory during that attack, you may draw from the deck of Risk Cards. If you did not acquire any new territories, you can choose to fortify your territories before passing the dice to the next player.

If during this turn, you have eliminated a player from the game, you will, aside from acquiring his territory, acquire his Risk cards as well. If you have six or more cards because of the acquisition, you can immediately trade these cards in for additional armies until you only have less than five cards. If after your acquisition, you only acquired less than six cards, you’ll have to wait until your next turn to trade in your cards. If after the acquisition, you have five cards, then you draw for on the deck to make your Risk cards amount to six cards, you still have to wait your next turn to trade the set of cards for additional armies.

Risk Fortifying

After an attack, or if you do not desire to attack during a turn, you can still fortify your territories before handing the dice to the next player to end your turn. To fortify your territory, you can move as many armies as you like from ONE and ONLY ONE of your territories to its adjacent territories.

Remember to leave at least one army to the territory your army is moving from. Your territory cannot be left vacant.

Risk Winning

The winner of the game is determined when one of the players have occupied or conquered all 42 of the territories on the map or have vanquished all the other players.

Risk Global Domination Rules For Two Players

by admin on March 17th, 2009

Risk is a multi-player game. The more players there are, the more enjoyable it is to play the game. But there are times when you just want to challenge one of your friends on a one on one Risk game. With this kind of game, the rules for playing vary a little bit.

Risk Before the Two-Player Game

The objective of the game is the similar as the Global Domination Game. All the players need to do is eliminate one another. The biggest difference with the Two-Player Risk game and the “More than Two Players” Risk game is the use of a neutral army.

Before the game, the two players will choose a set of colored pieces that they intend to use for the game. Then a third set, which will act as the neutral player will be chosen by either players. The Risk cards, excluding the Secret Mission cards and the wild cards, are then shuffled and dealt to the two players and the neutral player. The territories in the cards dealt will be the territories to be occupied by the respective players. This also applies to the cards dealt to the neutral players; all cards dealt to it are considered as neutral territories.

Once all cards are dealt, each player will alternately deploy their armies on their territories. When all the territories of the players have at least one army each already, they can now deploy their remaining armies to their territories. The maximum number of armies per territory is 2.

After both players have deployed their armies, they now take turns in deploying the armies of the neutral player. It is important to apply your strategy here since you can use the neutral territory and neutral army to block your opponent’s advancements.

When all the territories are occupied by at least one army from each player, collect all the Risk Cards including the Wild Cards, then shuffle them.

Risk Two-Player Game Play

The purpose of the neutral player or army is to act as a buffer between the two players. This will provide additional difficulty and obstacles for the players.

Risk Two-Player Game Attacks

The game play of the two player game is similar to the ordinary Global Domination game. To pick the first player to play, the dice is rolled by both players and the higher roll will be the first to move. During an attack, players could invade any territory that is adjacent to any of their territories.

If a player decides to invade a neutral territory, the defense of that neutral territory is rolled by the other player. The same rules apply to deciding the battles whether you are attacking another player’s territory or a neutral territory.

Neutral armies never attack. They defend their territories but never attack other territories.

Risk Two-Player Reinforcements

During the start of every turn, players get additional reinforcements following the same rules as the ordinary Risk Global Domination Game. This is true for both players but not to the neutral armies. Neutral armies do not gain additional armies.

Risk Two-Player Winning

The victor of the game is decided by whoever gets to eliminate the other player first. Eliminating the neutral armies are not necessary. Both players may acquire all the neutral territories if they wish to but it is not a requirement for winning the game.

Capital Risk Rules

by admin on March 17th, 2009

Capital Risk is the same as the Global Domination Game. The only difference is that the Capital Risk game’s rules were designed to be a quicker game. The objective of the game is to occupy or acquire the enemy headquarter while you are still in control of your territories.

If you want to make the game even shorter, you can adjust your objectives in such a way that if there are only four people playing, once you have captured any of the two enemy territories while you are still in control of your territory, you have already won. Or if there are 5-6 player playing the game, the first to acquire three headquarters wins.

Capital Risk Before the Game

After the initial placement and deployment of all the armies to their respective territories, each player, without letting the other players know, choose a territory which will become the player’s headquarters. Players must find the card with the image of the chosen headquarters in the deck of cards without showing the other players.

When everyone has found the Risk Card of their respective headquarters already, they will show it to everyone so that everyone is aware of everybody’s headquarters.

Capital Risk Game Play

The game play rules of the Global Domination Game applies to the Capital Risk Game as well. The only difference are the rules that apply to the head quarters. If you acquire another player’s headquarters, you must take that player’s Risk Card and place it in front of you facing up as proof that you have already acquired that territory.

If your headquarter was taken over by another player, that does not necessarily mean that you have already lost. You are can still play as long as you are still in control of your other territories. This means you can retrieve your lost headquarter if you have a territory adjacent to it.

You cannot use the card that signifies your headquarter as a part of a set of cards to be traded in for reinforcements. In fact, you must keep that card out of the way to avoid including it to your sets.

Winning Capital Risk

To win the game, you must either acquire all the headquarters of your opponents or acquire the specified number of head quarters (if there is an agreement) before your opponents while maintaining control over your territories.

Secret Mission Risk Rules

by admin on March 17th, 2009

This is another variation of the rules of the game Risk. The objective for the Secret Mission Risk Game is to be the first to accomplish the mission given to you or stated in your Mission Card. This is an interesting but more challenging way of playing the game. This is the only time you will use all the equipments and cards that come with the game and these changes the difficulty, strategies and tactics of the game.

Before the Secret Mission Risk Game

Each player must first select a color to use. Depending on the number of players joining the game, distribute the right amount of armies to each player. The number of armies distributed during the initial set up of the game is the same as the ordinary Global Domination Risk game.

One of the interesting parts of the game is the election of a General. Before the game, one of the participating players will be elected to take this position. The General’s responsibility is to securely distribute the missions to all the players. If the number of participants to the game is less than six, it is also the General’s Responsibility to remove the Mission Cards that correspond to the unused Army Colors. Remember that for this game, the minimum number of players is 3.

The General then shuffles the Secret Mission Cards and deals them to the left. He must deal the cards facing down to maintain secrecy. The unused cards are returned to the box and no one may look at the unused cards.

Once all the Mission Cards are distributed, the General then distributes the Risk cards to all the players, excluding the Wild Cards. These cards will determine which territory a player may occupy during the game. Once all the Risk cards are dealt, the players now will have to place one army to each of his or her territories. When all your territories have an army already, you may now deploy the remaining pieces to your territories according to your liking or strategy.

When all army pieces are placed on corresponding territories, the cards are returned to the Genera. The General then put the Wild Cards back in and shuffles the Deck.

You can now start the game after this. The Game Play is the same as the Global Domination Risk Game.

Winning the Game

Whoever accomplishes his or her Mission first wins the game. To prove that you have won the game, you must show your Secret Mission Card to everyone.

There are cases when other players accidentally help you during the Secret Mission Game. Even so, if your Mission was accomplished because of this accidental help, you are still considered the victor of the game. An example of this is when your mission is to eliminate a certain color of armies and one of the other players eliminated the last territory with that particular color that you are supposed to eliminate.

When this happens, you then become the victor of the game with the accidental help of another player.

Risk Strategies

by admin on March 17th, 2009

There are various ways on how you could win a game of Risk. You don’t have to limit yourself into following just one strategy or just by performing the same tactics over and over again. If you do, and you are playing with the same group of people every time, they will eventually figure you out and you’ll most likely lose every time after they figure your strategy out.

What should be consistent though is your attitude during the game. Be objective when you are playing. Do not let your emotions get the better of you. If you lose a territory from an opponent’s attack and you know that you don’t have enough armies or if your forces are not strong enough to take it back, it would be best to let it go for the time being until you are strong enough to take it back.

Also, you must always be aware of situations that you could take advantage of. Do not always attack and don’t always hold back. You must learn to identify situations when you should attack and when you should wait it out.

Initial Placement of Armies

Even before the game starts, when everyone is still deploying the initial armies around the map, you should already be thinking of your strategy. There are different ways to going about this. If you want to play defensively, then the best positions to place your armies are territories with less adjacent territories. The edges of the continents may be advisable since you only have to worry about attacks coming from one or two sides of your territory. The problem with this position though is that you will be sacrificing your armies’ mobility.

If you want to play aggressively, you could place your forces on territories in the middle of the map. By doing so, you have access to multiple sides of your territory. This will allow you versatility during your turn to attack. The problem with this strategy though is that since you are in the middle of the map, you will be under constant attacks from adjacent players. You must either have a formidable defense or are very lucky at rolling dice.

Keep in mind that controlling a continent will provide you with additional armies at the start of every turn. You could take advantage of this by placing your armies on one continent to completely fill it up. But you also have to remember that the other players could be thinking the same thing. So what you have to do is to discreetly occupy the majority of the territories of one continent while not allowing the other players to completely occupy other continents.

If ever one of the other players succeed in occupying a continent, it is good to form an alliance with other players to attack the territories of that player to prevent him from gaining an advantage with having more forces that everybody else.

Consider this as well. If you did control one continent, the other players will attack your territories within that continent to deprive you of controlling it and gaining more additional forces. So if you intend to control a continent early in the game, consider controlling one that has the least amount of attack points or adjacent enemy territories.

The best continent to control early in the game is Australia. It has only one attack point. If you control this continent early in the game, you will definitely have an advantage with the number of your armies. The next best continent to control is South America with only two attack points.

Remember to secure your continents once you have control over them. The best way to do this is put a massive defensive line on the borders of the continent or the attack points. This way, even when your enemies attack you, you have a chance to survive the round.

When your territories are clustered, it is a good idea to concentrate your forces on the borders and the territories behind the borders, which will act as your second line of defense or your counter attack group. The deployment of the armies on your inner territories will not really help you much since they won’t be able to support you when you decide to attack or when your borders are invaded.

Don’t attempt to control a continent if you are not confident enough to defend it against all the other players for one turn. Remember that the other players will try to stop you with gaining an advantage over them with regards to the number of forces you have. This means that if you have control over a continent, they will try to take over some of your territories within it. So be sure that when you already own a continent, you have enough forces to defend it.

Learn also not to allow your emotions to control or decide for you during the game. When someone attacks you, don’t just attack him back, especially if he didn’t succeed in taking over that territory. If you do, you will only lose more forces making that territory weaker for defense or attack. You can always consider attacking other enemy territories from other parts of your borders.

Don’t spread your armies too thinly. If your territory has a weak defense, it is easier for an enemy with a massive invading force to run over your territories and gain it for himself instantly. It is advisable to have a defensive line with a massive number if armies on your border instead of deploying small amounts of armies on all your territories.

When you attack, it is best to attack with a huge force as compared to a small to medium force. A more massive attack force will guarantee you a higher chance of victory as compared to a small invading force.

When you earn a set of Risk cards, try not to trade them in as long as possible. Let the other players trade the first few sets. The reason for this is that the more times any of you trade in sets of Risk cards, the number of armies it corresponds to increases. Try to hold on to your cards until the trade equivalent is relatively higher or when you already intend to attack an opponent.

There might be a time when you will not have confidence with the strength of your army during some moments in a game. If you do, chances are, your army really is weak at the moment. What you should do is keep under everybody’s radar. If they sense that you are the weakest player, you could expect an unending attack to your border territories from all the other players. Try to make your forces look strong by creating a strong defensive line. This way, they will not consider attacking you.

If you feel that you are the strongest player in the group, chances are, your opponents also feel the same way. If they are smart enough, they will not hesitate to attack you so you better make your forces look weak a bit.

The most helpful tactic or strategy is to form an alliance with other players. You could form an agreement that you do not attack each other until only the two are left playing. If that player is a trustworthy person, you’ll have one less enemy. If not, you’ll be in grave danger. So if you do plan to form an alliance, make sure that person won’t break that alliance.

If, in case, that person is just waiting for the right time to attack, and you are not ready when he does, you are in great danger. Don’t forget to fortify your border territories especially if they are adjacent to your ally, but be discreet about this. You don’t want to offend your ally with this.

While you are still in alliance with this other player, gain advantage by occupying more territories than him. This way, you’d get more army forces at every start of the turn and it would be easier for you to control the game at the end.

These are just a few things that you could do to gain an advantage when playing Risk. There are more strategies that you could read and learn when playing Risk. But to be able to truly become a force to reckon with, play the game a couple of times and get yourself used to playing the game then you can come up with better and more efficient strategies and tactics.