Risk: The Game of Strategy

Caitlin Close

Period 4

September 15, 2005

RISK: The Strategy Game

North Africa to attack Brazil. It has all come down to this last battle in the war for the world. You pick up your dice and roll as your opponent rolls his. As the dice roll to a stop you cross your fingers and hold your breath as you await to find out what you rolled. Did you finally make your life dream come true and take over the world? Well kind of, this is all a part of a classic board game Risk.

42 countries, 6 continents, and who knows how many armies are all involved in this game. You're probably asking yourself "how do you play?" Well I will tell you the first step you take is setting up the board. The number of players affects the number of armies you have. There are three types of army men the first type is the artillery (the cannons), the second type is the cavalry (the horsemen) and the infantry. Each type of army men equal a different number of armies. The infantry count as 1 army, cavalry is 5 armies, and the artillery is 10 armies. One dice is rolled to determine who goes first, then the order proceeds clockwise. Starting with player one, each player places an army on a country until all countries are occupied. There must be at least one army on a country. Two armies must be on a country to attack another. Then you keep adding armies to your countries till all your armies are gone.

Playing the actual game requires receiving a certain number of armies based on the territories you possess. You get one army for every 3 countries you control plus a certain amount for each continent you control. A player may attack any country adjacent to his or her own country where he possesses more than one army. Then pick out the number of dice equal to the attacking armies. The defender does the same up to 2 dice, but may not count the army occupying the territory for this purpose. Both roll the dice and remove casualties based on the results of the roll. The higher number per dice wins. Player one continues to attack until he or she determines it is no longer to his or her advantage to do so. The player does not and is not required to attack at all on his or her turn. The player the moves any number of armies from one country to an adjacent country, when both of those countries are in his or her possession. The player is not required to move any of the armies. He or she the receives a card for every country he or she has successfully conquered. Then, play is passed to the player to the left and the next player follows the same steps. A player wins the game by eliminating the armies of all other players and conquering the world. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Risk mimics actual geopolitical maneuverings in the diplomatic world. The prime strategic consideration in this game is the idea that if a player at any point holds more than half the armies in the world or the potential to get them, he or she can swiftly overcome all his or her opponents. A player who manages to conquer both