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The WyvernUser is Offline


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12 Sep 2008 12:53 PM  

My Re-Invention of Risk

  This variation I came up with I'll install in sections - though playing it is actually easy, it's hard writing instructions that are easy to understand, especially if you already know Risk. Some details aren't definite, so there might be changes later on to them.

Section 1: "Stages"

  Instead of one Player at a time, Players take their Turns together, at the same time. However, Players can take their Turns one-at-a-time if they want.

  Each turn is split into 3 easily-rememberable "Stages":
1 - Planning
2 - Moving
3 - ATTACK!!!

  Planning consists of Players counting Territories and recieving Armies - but in a new system that's just as easy to understand
  Moving has the Players simply moving their Armies and setting them to attack in the next stage.
  Attack, of course is where everyone attacks each other in a new, easy-strategy system.

(more on Planning and Attacking later)

Section 2: Planning

  The Planning Stage consists of a new, simple system that introduces a very simple economy.

Starting out:
  After the initial setup, Players add-up their Territories. The count each Player gets, gives them the amount of Money used to buy Armies and Cities.
(set costs are not yet decided)
  Any remaining Money Players have, they add to Money recieved in the next Turn.

  In Turns following the first Turn, Players add-up their Territories and Cities and subtract that number by the number of Additional Armies they have on the board.
(Additional Armies means All Armies excluding the single Armies that are left on Territories)

If math makes it easier for you:
[ # of Territories and Cities x 2 - (# of Armies - # of Territories) = # of Money] or [ 2tc - (a - t) = m ]
example: 9 Territories x 2 - (12 Armies - 9 Territories) = 15 Money.

  If the amount of Money turns out to be negative, then Money becomes Debt. If a Player had Debt, they cannot buy anything, and it stays with them until they can pay it off with money.

Section 3: Attacking

  In the Moving and Attacking Stages, Players move their Armies into position for their immediate attack.
  When moving, players are actually choosing where they want to attack. Armies can move freely within their Territories from one end to the other and attack an opponent's Territory right away. The attacking Armies await on the borders between their Territories.

  When attacking, more than one Player is allowed to attack. Players play the "Battles" in whatever order they agree on.

  Instead of Dice, Cards take their place. The Cards' each have 1 of 5 colours: Black, Blue, Red, Yellow, and White (in that exact order). Each colour defeats two others that proceed them, and is beat by the other colours that succeed. Ties - when two cards of the same colour are used to attack, this is considered a tie and neither sides lose Armies.
 
  For example:
Black vs:
 Blue - victory, blue loses 1/1, black loses 1/8
 Red - victory, red loses 1/2, black loses 1/4
 Yellow - defeat, yellow loses 1/4, black loses 1/2
 White - defeat, white loses 1/8, black loses 1/1
 Black - tie, neither side loses, or both lose 1/16

  As seen above, sides lose either 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8. What this means is that the one side loses a fraction of the opposing side's Armies (disregarding any remainders).
  i.e.:
 Side A with 16 Armies attacks with Red and Side B with 11 armies attack with White
 Side A loses 2 (1/4) Armies from attrition and Side B loses 8 (1/2) Armies.
  When a three-way or more occurs, all attackers compare each others.
  Adding Side C with 13 Armies attacking with Black creates a three-way battle. So when you have Sides A, B, and C;
 Side A loses 2 (1/4) from B and 6 (1/2) from C - Side A is left with 8 Armies.
 Side B loses 8 (1/2) from A and 1 (1/8) from C - Side B is left with 2 Armies.
 Side C loses 4 (1/4) from A and 11 (1/1) from B - Side C is left with 0 Armies.

  There are two ways Players can play an attack. The first way is to deal each attacker 3 Cards, they then choose one card to attack with. The second ways is that each Player is dealt only 1 Card, so then they recieve the random results equivalent if Dice were used.

Section 4: Retreating

  Another part of attacking is Retreat. When a Player thinks that they don't want to lose any more Armies, they play a Card from their hand (if playing the first way), or draw a Card from the top of the deck (if playing the second way). That Card is then compared to the Card(s) already played by the other attackers.
  If the Retreater wins the retreat, only 1/16 or 1/8 Armies are taken away from their Armies. If the Retreater loses, then 1/4 or 1/2 of their Armies is lost in the retreat.
  The Retreater then moves their remaining Armies to their closest Territory.

Section 5: Diplomacy

  The rules of diplomacy is that there really are no initial rules for it. But for some guidlines, Players can make allies with each other. Alliances allow Allies' Armies to cross over each others' Territories, and give aid in Battles.

Section 6: Cities, Walls and Batteries

  One new feature for this variation is the use of building Cities. Cities are built by the players to increase their wealth and defence of their Territories.

  Cities are built during the Planning Stage by each Player. The cost of building a Ctiy varies through the game:
1 City costs: 1 + # of Cities (already in possession by the Player) x 2
  And a Territory can only have 1 City each, and they cannot be removed.

  Each City of a Territory gives protection to its Armies and gives extra attrition to its enemies.

  Walls are built to defend a Territory from attack. Walls cause extra attrition to the enemy for each attack during a battle.
Like a City, 1 Wall costs: 1 + # of Walls and Batteries x 2
  But they can be removed by the Player that possesses them. Up to 1 Wall land can be built per land border of a Territory. i.e.: China can build up to 6 wall segments, and Britain cannot build any.

  Battaries are the opposite of Walls. A Battery ramps up the attack on the enemy, but can only be built on coastlines. Game Definition of a Coastline: a border that which connects to another Territory over water.
1 Battery costs: 1 + # of Batteries and Walls x 2
  Only 1 can be made for each coastline; if the Territory is an island or a group of islands, the Territory may only have 1 Battery for each route to another 1 or 2 Territories. i.e.: Great Britain can build 2 Batteries, North Africa can build 2 Batteries, and Central America cannot build any Batteries.
  The attacking Territory only ever uses 1 Battery for attack, never any more if the Territory has more than one.

(this section is expected to change)

Mr StrategistUser is Offline


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12 Sep 2008 4:52 PM  
Welcome to the forum. This sounds like there has been a lot of thinking on modifying Risk rules. I like it. But I am wondering how it plays. Not sure where the money is used and why this specific formula is used. So is it that instead of getting armies , you can buy armies and then use them. Where else can you use the money? Can you buy armies from someone else potentially opening up international arms sales. This is starting to sound interesting.

How about attack mode. Can you spend more money in the middle of attack to support your campaign. Say you had a rough time with dice and now you need to go back into reserves to spend more money on soldiers, so they finish the job.

I wonder how diplomacy is going to play out. I guess I have many questions. I just wait to see what comes up next then. very interesting so far ...
The WyvernUser is Offline


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12 Sep 2008 7:26 PM  

Buying other Players' Armies? I never thought of that - I like it.

Though, I used "buy" as a generic term - I actually viewed "buying" Armies as paying for the training and equipment for soldiers.

I'm actually quite surprised that you guys are liking it so far.

Mr StrategistUser is Offline


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13 Sep 2008 2:18 AM  
It's always interesting to play differently from the norm when it makes sense. Yo get to test your strategies.

Now I am not quite sure about the attacking stage. I think the dice system in Risk is quite great. New systems may suffer from complexity while not adding any value. So we need to be careful here.

Things like arms trade on the other hand can open up the game in ways we have never played before, so it becomes exiting to give it a try.

So what is your motivation behind the rules for attacking stage?
The WyvernUser is Offline


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13 Sep 2008 10:34 AM  

  Now my reason behind using the Card sytem over dice is the fact that dice are random, and in physical play, the rollers can learn to skillfully roll the dice so that they come out as sixes or somewhere close.

  In the card system, each player can choose what strategy to use, and optionally can choose a random card. I did actually give each colour a tactical move to make sense of them, but I though that would make them complex.
  And it gives the ability to multiple-attacker battles, which is quite necessary when everyone fights at the same time.

  The amounts of Armies that are taken off takes away those long times when 50 vs 50 armies are only taking away only two armies at a time - taking half an hour, especially when there's a time limit on the match.
  Instead, taking off fractions of your opponent's size from your Armies allows battles to be much quicker - and I think, much more fair to both the defender and the attacker.

The PlayerUser is Offline


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13 Sep 2008 11:52 AM  
These are interesting rules. It makes me feel I want to go and try it out and watch it in action. Have you played with these rules yourself and if so what did you think of it?

By the way, have you seen another really good variation on this forum, I think it's called defensive variation. You can get ideas from it and include it in your rules if it makes sense.
Mr StrategistUser is Offline


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13 Sep 2008 12:40 PM  
Thanks for the explanation Wyvern. I suppose you can still keep attacking if you only lost 1/8. Is there a reason why you should stop. If you can carry one, it means we are back to the situation where we can attack several times before the fate of the battle is decided. So this will take a bit more time too.

I guess the new system will speed up, though dice system in Risk is actually quite entertaining. It's like normal life. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you are out of luck. All in all, it balances out and you would have a fair game. I don't think anyone who loses in Risk would be able to say I lost because of bad dice. May be once, may be twice but obviously not all the time.

Can you think of a system where the score is settled quickly, but has the random element of dice?
The WyvernUser is Offline


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13 Sep 2008 1:46 PM  

  True, you still generally attack more than once if you have many armies, but not as many would it be 2-at-a-time.
  But more than one attack in a battle gives some players the option to retreat inbetween attacks in the case they don't want to lose any more armies then the cost of retreating.

Mr StrategistUser is Offline


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13 Sep 2008 2:30 PM  
Yes having the ability to retreat or stop attacking is quite important. I think that will take time, but it's part of the game really. How far to go when you are ahead and know when to stop. I think the more options a player has the better.
The WyvernUser is Offline


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13 Sep 2008 6:16 PM  

  I'm not to sure about Cities - the idea behind them is actually to allow the underdogs a leg-up to the "super-army" players - but not to delay or make the game unfair. Continent bonuses could offset, but I haven't been able to test it.

The WyvernUser is Offline


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19 Sep 2008 1:48 PM  
Now I'm really unsure about that last section! I either need to completely re-tool it, or get rid of it. What do all of you think?

Plus I've just joined Conquer Club. The maps are pretty good, especially the "Battle for Iraq!" map - the different mechanics of Cities and Provinces inspirational. It gives me an idea to make my own map and employ some of my variation mechanics - but I don't know xml, and I don't have photoshop on this computer :(
At best I can draw and scan, but I could use some help if someone would lend it...
The WyvernUser is Offline


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25 Sep 2008 9:27 PM  

It take it back - conquer club will accuse you of nothing and will ban at a pin's drop with absolutely no reason. Some people are just too abusive of their authority.

DestroyerUser is Offline


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03 Nov 2008 11:59 AM  

Agreed, Conquer Club is way over moderated and have just banned too many players for unjustifed reasons. I enjoy playing at http://landgrab.net which is far more enjoyable and you can make your own maps easily with their map editor. Have a look, I'm sure you wont be dissapointed.

Regards Destroyer

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Forums > RISK > Risk Game Variations > My Re-Invetion of Risk