Risk - Godstorm

[Iron_Chef]

I'm a RISK 2210 fanatic (came in second last year at the GenCon finals - got the cool plexiglass map of the planet).

I didn't know this was out yet, but what I've heard of it makes it sound cool, but not necessarily as precisely balanced as 2210.

I'll be picking it up shortly.

Well, 2210 is a virtually perfect game that relies more on strategy than luck, IMO, whereas Godstorm relies more on luck than strategy. I prefer 2210 so far by a substantial margin, as I don't enjoy having my strategies upset by some lucky draw of the cards. 2210 has some of that, but much more reasonable. You won't have an enemy "teleport" your commanders, space stations and armies to different spots, for example, nor will you have another player make you trash your cards with no recourse. You can look forward to all that @#$% and more in Godstorm! Not that Godstorm is garbage, or anything --- it's still fun, but it's not anywhere the same kind of experience as 2210.

 

[Iron_Chef]

Official Godstorm Forum: http://boards.avalonhill.com/forumdisplay.php?f=23

 

[Morpheus]

Just played a game of Godstorm yesterday at Fantasy HeroCon IV in Tampa and, while I found the game fun, I don't think I would buy it. There is too much luck involved (like previous posters have said) for my tastes. Although, when I sank Atlantis, that rocked!

 

[Umbra]

Play it once at a friends house and agree pretty much with what has already been said.

Good strategic and tactical skill is no longer a guarantee of a strong/winning position at the end of the game. The miracles can turn the tables pretty quickly.

And the rewind time card that meant the turn marker went back one space essentially killed the chance of the guy who was going to win because he expended most of his forces (and all his faith) in the 'final' round in a rampage and then found himself thinly stretched when time wound back and all the other players had another turn to take revenge.

Finally the two brown colors are too similar. We found it very difficult to distinguish between two of the forces under dining room lighting (only place with enough space). One set will have to have their heads painted.

The 'what the...' was enjoyable and did give the weakest players a chance to shake things up but I don't think I'll enjoy playing this as regularly as the other Risks.

 

[Iron_Chef]

Had another idea (for both GS and 2210)... Instead of collecting income at the start of your turn, why not collect it at the end of your turn like in A&A? That rewards aggressive players while keeping anybody from being too screwed over from an epoch's territory loss.

 

[Iron_Chef]

HolyWolfman on the Avalon Hill Godstorm board came up with these cool variants.

Variant #1:

For bidding...We wanted the "underdog" person to get a chance to "catch" up if they find themselves losing very badly! To simulate this we basically do this:

Everyone rolls a 1d6 to bid (high die roll chooses what order to go first/ usually first!)... the catch is: what ever you bid- you would throw that many dice more- giving that person a better chance to get a 6 per say! Also like in the regular game, if 2 players are tied with the highest die roll, just re-roll your die/dice! -This would certainly help you get back in the game once you have fallen down! This would also help players purchase gods and cards easier.

ie: Player A bids 1....Player B bids 2...Player C bids nothing(he has fallen behind and has no faith!)....Player D bids 1

die rolls:

Player A- 2,4
Player B- 5,6,1
Player C- 6
Player D-3,1

Player B (and) Player C re-roll thier alotted dice:

Player B- 4,4
Player C- 5

Player C goes first (he thought he was going to go last and be WIPED OUT!)....Player B is second, followed by Player A....then Player D!



Note: We tried this in our game...we had a similiar die roll effect: My brother who bid 2 and had tons of energy and was clearly winning ended up GOING LAST because he rolled a whopping: 1,1,2!!!! I laughed my butt off (he was pissed-no less) Even the other players went before him! I thought this was good especially it helped me (*who was in last place) finally gain some ground to turn the game around!

Variant #2:

Like many noted here and in our games...gods with a small army are EASY targets for other armies (without gods) to attack....so we came up with this idea:

Armies (WITHOUT gods) CAN NOT attack any size army with a god in it! This forces you to obtain gods and use them in godwars in order to attack and banish an opposing army with a god in it! Also this helps gods stay around a bit longer too! Remember: there are many cards that get rid of armies and therefore banishing any gods in them as well!

 

[Iron_Chef]

Tried GodStorm again 2nite (3 player game, as two player mode is broken). I had fun, but I kicked so much butt so early and so often and never lost a god (first time ever, plus first time I had all gods and more money than I could ever spend) that I think it colored my perception, LOL.

Used the two new rules posted above, which everyone liked, plus a third:

Variant Rule #3: Even if you control both Underworld altars you control, you only get +1d6 to your roll in a Godswar. Normal rules would give you +2d6 for controlling both altars, which we felt was too strong. The reason for you to control both altars now is to deny your opponents that extra 1d6 in a godswar, which is still helpful.

 

[Iron_Chef]

Next time we play, I think I might allow you to "resurrect" 2 units on Underworld crypts to your earthly temples if you have the Death God in play (another reason to buy him) --- if you don't have the Death God in play, use the normal resurrection rules. Normal rules only let you resurrect 1 underworld unit from each crypt you control (as long as you leave 1 unit in the crypt). This isn't much of a bonus. Making it so you can resurrect twice as many dudes benefits those losing lots of armies on earth so they're not necessarily out of the game and can still do something. It also makes crypts super important to control, but, more subject to change of ownership, as your armies won't stay in them long (either from getting killed or being resurrected). What do you think of this idea?