Declare war on your computer with the classic game of military strategy and world domination - - Risk CD-ROM! Invade Iceland, Conquer Congo, and Storm Siam directly from your PC. See military battles take place right before your eyes with fierce, live action animations of every move rendered in stunning detail!Choose from two different kinds of Game Play: the traditional game play of Classic Risk and the never-before-seen Ultimate Risk designed specifically for CD-ROM. Battle against the challenging Artificial Intelligence or duel with other human warlords directly over your LAN, modem line. or Internet!
CLASSIC RISK
Choosing Territories
Regardless of the map on which you are playing, one of the deciding factors in any game of Classic Risk will be the initial placement of your territories. In a random game, you do not have the luxury of choosing and must adapt your strategies to the territories you are given. However, in manual placement, try to concentrate your territories in one region of the map. Take as many territories as possible in a reinforcement region (for example, on the Classic Map, all of Europe), thus taking you closer to total control of the region, granting you a reinforcement bonus.
Placing Your Forces
It is essential to have a strong front line in Risk. Without it, the enemy will overwhelm your forces, so don't try to spread your units equally across all your territories. You can guarantee your computer opponent won't. However, it is important to have some backup forces, in the eventuality that the enemy do break through. If you only have one battalion in each internal territory, opponents will have no difficulty in annihilating your forces.
One type of territory which deserves special mention is those which have many adjoining territories, particularly islands. These tend to require much greater defence than mainland territories, as they more often than not have fewer friendly territories adjacent to them.
Gaining Reinforcements
As mentioned in Choosing Territories, try to take control of complete regions, thus gaining their reinforcement bonuses. To see which are the most profitable in terms of reinforcements, click on the Globe Icon to take you to the Global View. Then click on the flag in the top left corner of the screen. This will display the reinforcement regions, and by holding the mouse pointer over each region, it will display the number of battalions provided by controlling them.
When placing reinforcements, try to plug any major gaps in your defences first, then concentrate your remaining forces adjacent to the region you wish to attack next. Although attack is the best form of defence, leaving your back door wide open is the easiest way to get pushed into the ocean by your enemies.
The Art of War
When attacking in Classic Risk, you should always use the largest concentration of battalions available to you. Never try to take on an army larger than your own as you will soon find yourself reduced to one battalion. If outnumbered, try to build up your defences by free moving reinforcements to the territory under threat.
Concentrate upon taking control of key territories rather than just rampaging across the land. Whilst rampaging is fun and extremely satisfying, it leaves your forces dangerously thin on the ground in the aftermath, leaving your newly gained territories vulnerable to enemy retaliation.
Defending Your Territories
As mentioned, try to maintain a garrison at the most vital territories, but in general, the further from the front a territory is, the less defence is required. Always try to leave a garrison at any newly conquered territory, as the enemy will often attempt to retake them on their turns. Although it is possible to conquer as many territories as you have dice, this will leave one battalion in each territory which is basically a useless defence force.
Combat Dice
In Classic Risk, when attacking or defending, you will be given the choice of using one, two (and in the case of attacking) three dice. When attacking, the minimum number of battalions which will move to the next territory is equal to the number of dice you use. If attacking with three dice will only leave you with one battalion in your old territory, then consider attacking with two to preserve forces. As a general rule of thumb, only attack with what you need, unless the enemy are of an equal size, then use all that you can.
ULTIMATE RISK
Choosing Territories
As with Classic Risk, you should always try to consolidate your forces in one, or in the case of the more detailed maps, several regions. This provides you with a reinforcement bonus, based upon the size of the region. Plus it provides your forces with support from surrounding forces.
One important consideration in Ultimate Risk is to try and choose any territories which are classified as Difficult Terrain. Although you cannot place as many troops in these as in open terrain, and you cannot place fortifications in them, they present a difficult target for the enemy. Any force, even when accompanied by a general, must stop attacks once they have attacked a Difficult region. This will give you the opportunity to reinforce the territories around the targeted one.
Placing Your Forces
When placing forces in Ultimate Risk, there are a number of additional considerations to be made when compared to Classic Risk. Whilst leaving a single unit in a territory gives you greater forces to distribute elsewhere, the chance of a rebellion in the territory is greatly increased. By placing two units in each territory, should a disaster occur, only the maximum 50% of the battalions present can be killed, thus leaving one battalion. If only one battalion is present, then they will die causing a rebellion to occur.
Secondly, you should consider purchasing generals and building armies for them. Generals will be discussed below, but it is useless to buy a general and then give him only a few battalions. For generals to be truly effective, they should command as large an army as possible.
Also, when placing your initial forces, you should place fortresses in strategic positions, particularly along your borders and in any territory which can be considered a gateway to a number of other important areas (Good example of this being Corsica and Sardinia on the European map). Forts will be discussed in detail below.
Gaining Reinforcements
As with Classic Risk, you receive reinforcements from the territories you hold, plus a bonus for holding complete regions, and from trading in territory cards. However, in Ultimate Risk you may also gain them from trading prisoners-of-war with enemy powers. This will be detailed below.
When placing reinforcements, try to reinforce your frontiers, plus any territories which have suffered disasters. Also, try to build up the armies commanded by your generals, as the larger the force they possess, the greater their destructive power.
The Art of War
As in Classic Risk, never over-extend your forces. Take control of new territories then reinforce them as quickly as possible. Ensure your defences are adequate before venturing out in search of new conquests, and never leave strategic territories unguarded.
Whenever possible, target enemy generals above all other forces, and try to do so with more than one general, to ensure victory. Capturing or killing an enemy general not only removes him from the battle and a large number of his troops, but if you withhold him as a prisoner-of-war, you limit the number of generals the enemy may have.
Regardless of the type of game you are playing, try to conquer the enemy capitals as this will deprive them of prisoners, generals, and any territory cards they may hold. Breaking a power's capital will effectively break their armies.
Tactical Card System
When using the Tactical Card System, always consider the terrain you are fighting in and the enemy you are facing. If in difficult terrain, use any tactics which indicate they are suitable, as these will give you a bonus in the attack.
When fighting with generals, always use the most advanced tactic available, though be careful when attacking enemy generals, as they have the same tactics available, as well as a few extra defensive ones. If in doubt, use a defensive tactic, even when attacking as it is often possible to draw the enemy out into a trap.
In general, attacks on the flank or in the rear are the most effective, beaten only by surprise attacks and ambushes. Never make direct assaults when attacking fortifications, as that tends to be where most of their forces will be. Again, try and draw the enemy out, rather than taking the battle to them.
One important note. If a battle is inconclusive, you only have a total of three attempts to break the enemy. Use them wisely.
Generals
Generals are invaluable to your armies. They are the only way to increase the number of battalions in a territory above twenty (ten in difficult terrain). Always build up your generals' armies as much as possible, and when attacking always use the highest level tactic they have available. Whilst generals are excellent for destroying small units, their real strength lies in their ability to take out enemy generals and fortifications.
Try to use your generals together, attacking adjacent territories and thus pushing your borders forward in unison, instead of creating small pockets within the enemy-controlled regions. Use your generals to cut enemy forces off then use your smaller armies to mop up any enemy resistance.
Always be careful when committing generals to a battle, as if the general is captured or dies, then the number of battalions present in the territory will be reduced to conform to the terrain limits.
Forts and Capitals
Two important features in Ultimate Risk are forts and capital cities. Your capital is the centre of your power-structure, from where your generals originate and where all Territory Cards and prisoners of war are held. If you lose your capital, you lose all Territory Cards held, all prisoners of war, and the ability to purchase new generals, so always keep them well defended. Capitals, like generals can have up to 350 battalions stationed with them, so place a garrison force in your capital to defend it, and to provide support to surrounding territories.
Forts allow you to build up the defences along your borders without having to commit troops to them. Build them along your borders, then when you have advanced your front line, demolish the old forts and rebuild them on your new frontier. The only exception to this is when a territory is of strategic importance, i.e. it is the gateway to a particular region of the map. Always maintain forts in these territories, as they can often prevent the enemy from advancing long enough for you to move reinforcements into the territory.
Alliances
Although the objective of Risk is global domination, it is not always possible to fight the war on all fronts, as this will soon deplete your forces and give the enemy the chance to crush you. Making alliances is an excellent way to take the heat off particular fronts, allowing you to concentrate your forces elsewhere. When making alliances, you should study the distribution of the enemy around you. If one enemy power is far stronger than the others, attempt to make a long-term alliance with them, and keep renewing it. They may not initially accept your offer, but keep trying, the political landscape changes as fast as the military.
Another tactic is to wait for the enemy to offer you an alliance and then negotiate. Only accept alliances from other powers once you have had your turn, then regardless of the length of alliance they offer, negotiate a one turn alliance. This will prevent them from attacking you for the rest of the turn, whilst allowing you to attack them on your next go.
Prisoners-of-War
In Ultimate Risk, when you enter a battle, not only do battalions have the potential to be killed, but they may also be taken captive by the enemy. This is applicable to both battalions and generals, so you should always consider your tactics carefully. When swapping prisoners with the enemy, you always ask yourself if you need the troops or not. It can be an excellent tactic to withhold prisoners, thus starving the enemy of reinforcements, especially if you hold any of their generals, which are in limited supply. However, if the enemy hold one of your generals, it is a good idea to trade in order to gain his release.
Rebels
Should a territory succumb to a disaster, reducing the battalions stationed there below one, a rebellion is likely to occur. Should this happen, crush the rebellion as quickly as possible. If left to their own devices, the rebels will quickly spread to adjacent territories. If left long enough, a rebel general may appear, at which point you will have to divert serious resources to containing the uprising.
As mentioned, the most effective method for preventing rebellion is to ensure that two battalions are placed in each territory. This will ensure that a single disaster cannot cause a rebellion, as only fifty percent of the battalions in any territory can be killed by such an event.
Blind Risk
Blind Risk is a very different game to standard Risk, as you are effectively blind to the movements of the enemy in any territories which you do not share a border with. Do not try to push forward on multiple fronts, as although you may know the size of the forces immediately around you, the battalions beyond are unknown. Make small probing attacks to determine the level of resistance you will encounter before committing yourself to any major offensive.
Terrain Effects
Terrain plays an important role in Ultimate Risk, as it dictates the course which an army can take when attacking or free moving. When attacking the enemy, if you have the choice between a number of territories, attack those which do not contain difficult terrain first, as attacking difficult terrain will effectively end the activities of the battalions involved.
When being forced to retreat, always try to retreat into open terrain, when given the choice between open and difficult. Should the enemy follow up their attack, they are more likely to attack a small force in difficult terrain, than a large one in the open. Regardless though, you should always try to reinforce battalions in difficult terrain as much as those in the open.