Fastest Game of Risk Ever

[Shortman McLeod]

I would have thought that everyone would have to have the same amount of turns in order to claim a victory. For example, if you went first, everyone would have to have a turn after you in order and you still hold the required territories in order to win. On the other hand, if you went last, you might be able to do exactly what the OP did since everyone has had a turn.

Olaf the Stout

Makes sense. If Olaf's interpretation isn't canonical rules, it's a darn good houserule.

Never used Mission cards myself. I always felt that the charm of Risk is playing for 5-6 hours and cursing the stalemate in Asia as everyone starts rubbing their eyes in exhaustion.

Anyone played Risk: Godstorm? That one looks interesting, especially the "heaven" and "hell" boards (whatever they call them--I think the hell board is the "underworld" or something).

Oh, and this is my first post on enworld, though I've lurked for three years so I don't really think of myself as a noob or anything.

Anyone tried any of the "nuclear Risk" variants floating around on the web? They're pretty nifty.


Shortman

 

[Tiberius]

Anyone played Risk: Godstorm? That one looks interesting, especially the "heaven" and "hell" boards (whatever they call them--I think the hell board is the "underworld" or something).

I have. It's certainly interesting, but I think it's probably the most flawed of the Risk variants out there. We've found the miracle cards, while flavorful, tend to be a mite powerful; also the effects of the god of War (attacker wins ties, if the god is with the army) breaks one of the fundamental balancing points of the game. Further, the Underworld, while somewhat interesting, is nigh-useless. You gain no armies or Faith for possessing territories, and the crypts/altars there are of marginal utility. I like the secondary board (the Moon) in 2210, because it's useful to have. The secondary board in Godstorm, however, seems to be shoehorned into the game.

The plague territories are also handled in what is, to me, an unsatisfactory manner; they take away half of the units stationed there each turn (rounded down; you can never lose the last one), and anyone attacking that territory loses half the invading army. This leads, in my experience, to the attacker massing an army on the territory adjacent and attacking one unit at a time, secure in the knowledge that he will win eventually. I suspect this is against the intent of the plague rules, but the RAW seem to allow it. On the whole, I'd prefer that they act like the Devastation markers in 2210, and cause the territories in question to be utterly impassable and unable to be occupied.

As stated earlier, there are some really flavorful miracles. There's nothing like sinking Atlantis, and laughing as your opponent's troops find their way to the Underworld.

Being a fan of antiquity, I really wanted to like this game. I prefer it to a game of the original, but if I had to choose 1 Risk game to play for the rest of my life Godstorm wouldn't be it.

 

[Shortman McLeod]

Being a fan of antiquity, I really wanted to like this game. I prefer it to a game of the original, but if I had to choose 1 Risk game to play for the rest of my life Godstorm wouldn't be it.

What *are* the other Risk variants out there?

Off the top of my head, I can think of . . .

Risk: Godstorm
Risk: 2210
Risk: Star Wars original trilogy (saw this not too long ago at Wal*Mart--at least, I *think* it was labelled "original trilogy")

Risk: Transformers (yech. Just saw this one at Wal*Mart too)
Risk: Lord of the Rings (are there different versions of this one?)

 

[kenobi65]

What *are* the other Risk variants out there?

In college (20+ years ago), we played "Risk For Drinks." The additional rules were pretty simple:

1) Lose an army -> take a drink.
2) Lose a country -> take a drink.
3) Lose a continent you once controlled -> finish your beer.

The ante to play was a 12-pack of beer. If you were able to stay in the game until the end, you got most of the way through your 12-pack.

Ahhh, the good old days.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Oh, and this is my first post on enworld, though I've lurked for three years so I don't really think of myself as a noob or anything.

The first one is free! Or Welcome to the boards, sort of....

Anyone tried any of the "nuclear Risk" variants floating around on the web? They're pretty nifty.

Before all the variants available today, my friends and I played Risk a few dozen times. Toward the end, we used the nuclear option (play a country card on your turn instead of doing anything else and nuke that country--kill all armies in it currently and make it radioactive. After that, all armies in that country were reduced by half every turn they remained there. Ouch).

The nuclear option was fun, although it was most often used by the player in last place as a Spite Move. It was much less fun for the person who was winning. :\

 

[Tiberius]

What *are* the other Risk variants out there?

Off the top of my head, I can think of . . .

Risk: Godstorm
Risk: 2210
Risk: Star Wars original trilogy (saw this not too long ago at Wal*Mart--at least, I *think* it was labelled "original trilogy")

Risk: Transformers (yech. Just saw this one at Wal*Mart too)
Risk: Lord of the Rings (are there different versions of this one?)

I think you got the big ones. I have a copy of Castle Risk sitting on my shelf, but I have no idea whether that one is still made.

 

[kenobi65]

(never mind)

 

[Ourph]

Is it strategically wise to grab and hold Austrailia early in the game, if you can?

Yes and no. Australia is a great strategic area to hold, but the only way to expand from Australia is into Asia. Asia is one of the toughest continents to hold onto in the early game because of its many borders with NA, Europe, Africa and Australia. If you have other "bases" beside Australia to expand from it's great. If Australia is your only real stronghold you have to be very careful about how fast you expand and in what direction.

Is Asia really worth the effort to conquer it and hold it?

In the early game, Asia is one of the least attractive continents to control. Asia becomes much easier to hold if you control NA and Australia too.

Is it strategically wise to always try to also grab South America when you get North America?

SA is one of the easiest continents to keep control of if you have plenty of armies. NA has one of the biggest payoffs in terms of armies each round without the disadvantage of a lot of borders (like Europe and Asia). The combination of NA and SA is very nice and allows for expansion into Africa, Europe and Asia for several countries without opening up a lot of new borders. If you already control NA, SA is a better option for immediate expansion than Asia or Europe.

 

[Deset Gled]

What *are* the other Risk variants out there?

In addition to the ones you mentioned, I know of Star Wars: Clone Wars Edition. I believe there were two versions of LotR Risk: an early edition that had a slightly smaller map, and the full version.

As mentioned, the LotR full version is by faaaaaaar my favorite. It has the best map, the best cards, the best everythng. My two complaints with it are that it only has pieces for 4 players (the size makes it much more ideal for a 6 player game than the original, so I've played games where we steal pieces from others sets to make it 6 player), and the color scheme of the continents. As a colorblind person, I can tell you that the numbers of browns, greens, and reds on that board all blend together.

I never really liked Godstorm. Especially the special variant where there are a limited number of rounds in the game. Blah. Godstorm and 2210 both also have a variant where you have to "bid" for play order, instead of playing in a fixed order. I don't like that at all, or any variation of Risk that involves "money" for that matter. If I wanted to have to buy different types of units, I would be playing Axis and Allies. I also think the Moon base of 2210 was done much better that the Underworld in Godstorm. I've only played SW: Clone Wars, not original trilogy. It was ok, but nothing too new. I'm planning on buying the Transformers version soon.

There's always a lot to be said for standard Risk, but after you've played it enough times, the map is just too simple. The number of stragies is fairly limited. The size and variation on the new boards help a bit, but, as I keep saying, LotR is the best.

 

[SWBaxter]

Yes and no. Australia is a great strategic area to hold, but the only way to expand from Australia is into Asia. Asia is one of the toughest continents to hold onto in the early game because of its many borders with NA, Europe, Africa and Australia. If you have other "bases" beside Australia to expand from it's great. If Australia is your only real stronghold you have to be very careful about how fast you expand and in what direction.

Really, all you have to be careful about is holding Siam. Once you've got Australia, you just want to win one battle each turn to get a risk card and wait until the reward for a set gets so high that bonus armies for controlling continents and territories don't really matter. Expansion before then is usually counter-productive.

In the early game, Asia is one of the least attractive continents to control. Asia becomes much easier to hold if you control NA and Australia too.

By which time you don't really care that much about the bonus armies, because you're most likely turning in sets for 20+ armies by then. Asia's value by that point in the game is that Ukraine-Middle East makes a good defensive/staging line.

It'll come as no surprise that my favourite variants are the ones that tone down the number of armies you get for a set of cards. Makes acquisition of territory much more important, and continent bonuses remain significant throughout the game.