JEWELRY NEWS NEWSLETTER PARTY ZONE ARTICLE

Risk Variant - A New Take on an Old Game
by Larry Levy © HuzonFirstGames.com

So maybe you've read all about the new European games and you're still not ready to give up your American favorites. That's okay. A simple variant can sometimes make an old game seem like new. Here's an original variant of the classic game Risk that takes some of the luck out of the game. Try it out--you may find it gives you a new way to play an old favorite - and a bit more challenge!

Variant for Risk

If you've played much Risk at all, you're probably aware that luck can play a huge role in the game. Most of us have experienced the agony of having a superior attack force cut to ribbons by a small number of defenders who, against all odds, keep on rolling those sixes. The real problem is that there are battle results in which one side loses armies while the other side loses none. The simplest way to improve this situation is to require that both sides lose armies in the vast majority of combat results. In this way, a sufficiently large force can always guarantee the defeat of a smaller force, even though its losses may be greater than anticipated.

Here is the revised combat procedure. The attacker and defender each roll a single die. The attacker wins if his roll is higher than the defender's; in this case, he loses one army while the defender loses two armies. The defender wins if her roll is a 6 or 5 and also higher than the attacker's roll. In this case, it is the attacker that loses two armies and the defender that loses one. All other dice results are draws, in which case each side loses one army.

Follow the above procedure if the attacker has at least three armies and the defender has at least two armies. If the attacker has only two armies, he cannot attack. There are only two other possibilities:

Attacker has at least four armies and Defender has one army: The defender always loses one army. If the attacker wins, he loses no armies. If there is a draw, the attacker loses one army. If the defender wins, the attacker loses two armies.

Attacker has three armies and Defender has one army: The winner removes no armies and the loser removes one army. In a draw, both sides remove one army.

That's it. Enjoy!