Basic risk strategy board game

The roll of the dice determines a lot in Risk, but so do strategy and intelligent tactical decisions. This strategy board game was created in and requires two to six players. Players are required to have skills in strategy, tactics, and negotiation. Gameplay can take anywhere from one to eight hours. This game of diplomacy allows players to form alliances throughout the game on a political map consisting of territories and continents.

Risk is not a team game. Alliances, if they exist at all, are always temporary. It is imperative that you do not spread yourself too thin because other players could sweep through and capture all of your one-army countries quite easily. Then you add your bonus points. These come from controlling one or more continents.

You control a continent by having at least one troop in every territory of a particular content. Some are easier than others, like Australia is only four and has one way in so it is worth 2, while Asia has twelve territories and five ways in so if you can get that you get 7. See Below. You combine your base and bonus troops and then add them to any territory you control in any combination.

Put all in one or one if many different territories, or lots in one and a few in others. It is up to you. Once your troops are out you move onto attack. You can attack as much or as little as you would like. You get a red attack die for as many people as you are attacking with up to three dice.

So if you attack with 1 you get 1 die, 2 you get 2 die, 3 you get 3 die, 4 for you get 3 die, 5 you get 3 die, etc. This is because you only attack with up to three at one time. It is the same with defending except it is only up to two instead of three. Once you determine your attack each player rolls their dice at the same time for that battle, the attacker with the red and defender with the blue.

If it is the max three dice on two, each player takes their two highest rolls and compares them. The highest red goes against the highest blue, and the second highest red goes against the second highest blue. Whoever has the highest number in each comparison wins the fight, but a tie is won by the defender this is what makes the 3 dice against two fair. So in this scenario, two troops will be lost because there are two battles.

If red rolled 5, 4, 4 and blue rolled 5, 3, there would be a loss of one troop on each side because the 5 vs 5 blue wins tie and 3 vs 4 red wins for being higher. You remove the lost troops and go again as long as the attacking player wants.

This is where the most meat in how to play Risk lives. After you have decided to stop attacking you move into the final fortification stage. Here you get ONE move. You can move any amount of troops leaving at least one from a territory to one other connected territory. So you can move very far away as long as the start and end territory is connected by a string of places you control. When your turn is done, if you successfully took over at least one territory that turn, you get to draw a risk Bonus Card.

When you get enough of these, they give you big one time troop bonuses and what will eventually win you the game. It is only ever one card, even if you took fifteen territories this turn, you just get one.

These are so key, if you are not getting these every turn, you will lose. If there is one thing you should take away from this how to play Risk guide it is to do whatever it takes to get a bonus card every turn.

You may have noticed numbers around the edge of the board. You can attack the same territory from the same adjacent position, or you can attack it from different adjacent positions. A player may decide not to attack at all during a turn, only deploying armies. Declare that you are going to attack. When you want to attack another territory, you have to declare your intentions out loud. Decide how many armies you are going to use in your attack.

Because your territory must be occupied at all times, you must leave at least one army behind. The number of armies you attack with will determine how many dice you get to roll when you square off the opponent whose territory you are defending. Roll the dice. You roll up to three red dice, depending on your troop size.

The defending player rolls the same number of white dice as the number of troops in their defending territory, with a maximum of two. If there is only one white die, only match up the highest red die with the white die. Occupy the territory if you win it. If you successfully wipe out all of the defending armies in the area you are attacking, then will need to occupy the territory with at least as many attacking armies as used in the attack.

If you attack with three dice or three armies , you must colonize the newly-acquired territory with at least three armies, although you can choose to colonize it with more if you wish. Get a Risk Card if you can. If at the end of your attacking turn you've conquered at least one territory, then you have earned a Risk card. You cannot earn more than one Risk card for this. Part 4. Understand that you cannot move armies around until your next attacking turn.

If your territories are not well fortified, then they will be vulnerable to attack from your opponents. To keep your territories safe from attack during your opponents' attack phases, move your pieces where you want them before ending your turn. Fortify your territories. Move your pieces to different territories at the end of your turn.

It is in your best interest to move pieces to your border territories that are more vulnerable to attacks by your opponents. There are two rules on how you can move your pieces: [18] X Research source Standard Rule : Move any number of army pieces from a single territory into an adjacent territory occupied by you.

Alternate Rule : You can move pieces anywhere, as long as the starting point and destination can be reached by going through a string of adjacent territories under your control. Remember to leave at least one army piece behind. In order to retain control of the territories that you are moving army pieces from, make sure that you leave at least one of your army pieces on each territory that you own.

Otherwise, you will no longer have control of the territory. Part 5. Know the three basic strategies described in the Risk rulebook. Risk is a strategy game, so it rewards players who employ tactics and who outsmart their opponents. The three pieces of strategic advice given to players by the Risk rulebook include: [20] X Research source Try to hold entire continents to get the bonus reinforcements.

Your might is measured in army reinforcements, so it's a good strategy to get as many reinforcements as possible. Watch your borders for buildups of enemy armies that could imply an impending attack. Make sure your own borders are properly fortified against enemy attack. Cluster your reinforcements mostly along your borders to make it harder for enemies to penetrate your territory. Attack as much as possible early in the game. One way to improve your chances of winning is to go on the offensive right away and attack your opponents every chance that you get.

This strategy will help you to gain more territories quickly, which will give you more armies to work with at the beginning of your turns. Attacking often will also take armies away from your opponents, so they will have fewer armies to work with. Eliminate weak players with lots of Risk cards. Eliminating weak opponents with plenty of Risk cards has two benefits: it gets rid of an enemy as well as netting you extra cards.

Learn the continent theories. Players who regularly play Risk know that certain continents can be more advantageous to seize control of than other continents. For example, conquering small continents is an advantage because they have fewer territories and are easier to control. Start in Australia and hold control of it.

This will give you two extra reinforcements per turn, and it can only be accessed by one territory. Build troops and move up through Asia when it begins to weaken.

North America Theory. Begin in North America, fortify it against Europe and Asia. Move down to South America, cut through Africa and move up. This operates on the assumption that Asia and Europe are fighting each other to expand. Africa Theory. Begin in Africa, then fortify it against Europe and South America. This operates on the assumption that Asia, North America and Europe are fighting each other to expand.

Try not to begin in Asia; it has too many borders to fortify and will quickly lead to over-expansion and spreading your troops thin. Use a defensive strategy to hold onto a cluster of countries that fall across several continents. Instead of attacking as much as you can, you might choose to defend your borders and build up your troops.

While you will not receive the continent bonus of armies at the beginning of your turn, having strong defenses will make it harder for your opponents to attack you and win. Create allies. Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email. Never attack with less than 4 troops. Four is the minimum amount you need to roll with three dice, meaning your best odds as an attacker. If there is a life or death situation, and you need to attack a 1 with 2, then do so.

But in normal play, hold back when you get down to three. Very simple risk game strategy. Do not extend yourself to take a bonus unless you can defend it. I see it all the time. New players eager for some extra troops manage to cling to some continent, but then have weak defenses.

Another risk game strategy.