******************************************************************************* Risk FAQ Copyright 2004, Apathetic Aardvark Email: sinenomine@gmail.com All rights reserved Version 1.0 12/17/2004 ******************************************************************************* Index/Table of Contents ******************************************************************************* Disclaimer.........................................................i How to play/FAQ....................................................ii Credits............................................................iii ******************************************************************************* i) Disclaimer (Legal stuff) ******************************************************************************* Copyright 2004, Apathetic Aardvark All rights reserved. The following sites have my permission to post this; www.gamefaqs.com www.neoseeker.com Any site, magazine, or other form of media, that is not included on this list caught hosting this guide without my written consent is in violation of copyright laws and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the laws. In addition, a terrible curse will be placed upon you and any subsequent generations of your family. ******************************************************************************* ii) How to Play / FAQ ******************************************************************************* ---Placing Armies--- Risk works very similarly to the Parker Brothers board game. There may be up to six players in Risk. They can be human or computer. There are three difficulties for the computer players to be. Beginner difficulty computers shoot slowly in arcade mode, difficult ones shoot very quickly and with a better range accuracy. They also tend to try and overwhelm an area rather than build up in multiple places. Risk starts with all of the players selecting countries to occupy. Once they are occupied, the remainder of the initial armies are placed wherever a player sees fit. The number of beginning armies depends on the amount of players; 2 Players = 40 Armies 3 Players = 35 Armies 4 Players = 30 Armies 5 Players = 25 Armies 6 Players = 20 Armies When selecting countries, it is recommended you try to sneak your way into take the great majority of a continent in multiple player games. If only two or three players exist, you may be able to sneak an entire continent under your control, though it is rather unlikely. But, if you can get three of the four countries of either Australia or South America, or even four of the six in Africa, it puts you in great position to control the entire area by your second turn. If you are lazy, you can have the computer auto-select countries for all players at random. This does generally give a very balanced location for every player, however, they are entirely random and thus all vulnerable. The computer can also place extra armies too. It will again do this seemingly at random. If you are interested, while the southern continents all give a pathetic amount of armies for control compared to the northern ones, they do have far fewer points in which they may be attacked thus making them much easier to defend. ---Start of a Turn--- Once the initial army placement has been completed, one player will be randomly selected to go first. At the start of a turn a player will receive new armies for any territories or continents they control. Each turn a player gets a minimum of three armies for controlling at least one country. Beyond that, a player gets one army for every three countries he or she controls. So if a player has twelve countries, he or she will get four armies per turn. But, even if a player has only two countries, he or she will still get three armies. Players get extra armies at the start of a turn if they have control of an entire continent. Each continent is worth an amount of armies from two to seven. Africa = 3 Asia = 7 Australia = 2 Europe = 5 North America = 5 South America = 2 In addition to countries and continents, a player may receive armies for trading in cards. A card is gained at the end of any turn in which a player won at least one battle. At the start of a turn, a player may trade in a set of three cards. There are three different designs on the cards, Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery. A player must either trade in three of a kind, or one of each. There are 42 of these cards in all, one representing each country. In addition, there are two wild cards as well, which have all three pictures on them, but do not have a country associated with them. You may trade in cards only at the start of a turn, or if you eliminate another player from the game and get too many cards by virtue of defeating them. This only occurs if their card total plus your existing card total brings you to six cards or more, in which case you must reduce your hand to a minimum of four cards. When you trade in sets of cards, which is done by hitting the c button on the beginning of a turn screen, you will get extra armies to place just as you do for controlling countries and continents. Depending on how many you trade in determines how many extra armies you get; 1 set = 4 armies 2 sets = 6 armies 3 sets = 8 armies 4 sets = 10 armies 5 sets = 12 armies 6 sets = 15 armies 7 sets = 20 armies 8 sets = 25 armies 9 sets = 30 armies 10 sets = 35 armies 11 sets = 40 armies 12 sets = 45 armies 13 sets = 50 armies 14 sets = 55 armies When trading in cards, if you control any of the countries on a card you trade in, you will gain two additional armies on that country. If multiple cards contain pictures of countries you control, you will only get the armies on a random one of them. If you placed your armies well in the beginning and control many adjacent territories, it works good for you, as you may then put all of your armies onto the front lines. If you are spread out though, you must make choices between trying to overwhelm one area or protect all of your territory with a moderate amount of forces. ---What to do during a turn--- This part is rather simple, you want to attack other countries and gain control of them. The attacker must have at least two armies to initiate an attack. A country may attack any country which it directly borders. Alaska is claimed to be directly next to Kamchatka so that the west and east sides of the world connect to each other. It is highly recommended you win one battle per turn, minimum, so that you will get a card for it. It is also nice to take territories which allow you to keep the bulk of your armies on the front lines. Risk has two main modes a battle which can be done, the mode may be changed using the start button at any point when you are viewing the world map on your turn. Classic mode shows a battle field where pressing a button will fire cannons at the other player. The cannons chances of hitting are the same chances you would have if you were rolling real dice. This mode is very balanced if players are of great different skill levels. It also takes longer in most large battles. The attacker and defender may each choose how many cannons, or dice, they wish to use. Hitting "B" at either time will return the players to the battle menu. Battle options for Classic Mode are; Attack - This allows you to press the button to fire at your opponent, and then they press the button to fire back at you. Continuous Attack - The computer auto-fires for all players until the battle is over. Fast Battle - The computer determines who the winner is and shows a player. This option is rather pointless... Attacker and Defender Options - Each player selects how many cannons they use. The attacker may use up to three cannons [dice]. This increases the amount of chances the attacker will hit a defender. It also increases the chances the defender will hit the attacker. So this option makes no difference, right? Wrong. If an attacker uses more than one cannon, that player is forced to occupy the territory with two or three units [depending on how many cannons survive] at the end of the turn. If the attacker is attacking behind her or his lines, this makes quite a difference. Arcade mode is a much better option in my opinion. Players will each have a cannon in which they control the direction and range of its firing and attempt to kill all of the opponents units as they walk across the field of battle. Hitting a cavalry unit reduces the opponents armies by two, hitting an infantry reduces it by one. The battle starts with a cavalry unit, and then an infantry unit follows it, provided the battle has not ended. After an infantry unit is hit, another cavalry unit will appear. All infantries start from the outside area of the screen, run to an arbitrary point, stand there for a second, and then run back off the screen. Cavalry units run from the outside to the inside and then back off, at a much faster pace and never stopping. An attacker may never have their army reduced below one under any circumstances. However, once reduced to one the attacker does lose the battle. This option allows players to truly test their skills at shooting, but it is not a good choice if one player is clearly better than another. Computer opponents will have accuracies and firing rates improved depending on their difficulty. A few tips for arcade mode. Always shoot as fast as you can, you are still able to maneuver the cannon even while firing. If you hit an infantry unit near the outside edge of the screen, fire a second shot, more often than not the cavalry unit which comes after it will be at approximately the same distance. Often, the first cavalry unit starts the map just a hair above the default range, you can hit it before your opponent knows what happened! Once you have made every attack you want, or can, it is either time to end your turn, or fortify a position. To fortify, hit the start button and select fortify. You will be able to move any extra armies from one territory to an adjacent one. This is useful for getting otherwise useless back lines armies closer to the front. It does, however, end your turn. You may only move armies if at least two are on the territory you select first. ---Start Button Menu--- End Turn - This one ends your turn. Duh! Fortify - This command allows you to move armies from one territory to another, it will also end your turn once moved successfully. Statistics - Shows you how many Cards, Countries and Armies all players control. Battle: - Toggles between Classic and Arcade mode. Battle View - Toggles between viewing battles and participating in them. Unfortunately, if you do choose to participate in battles, you must also be bored to death watching computer players attack each other. Sound - Toggles the sound and music on or off. Switch Player - Swaps the current player from Human/Computer control to Computer/Human control. ---The Territories--- Name | May attack and be attacked from ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afghanistan | Ural, Ukraine, Mideast, India, China Alaska | NW Territory, Kamachatka, Alberta Alberta | NW Territory, Alaska, Ontario, Western US Argentina | Peru, Brazil Brazil | Venezuela, Peru, Argentina, N Africa Britain | Iceland, W Europe, Scandinavia, N Europe China | Siberia, Ural, Afghanistan, India, Siam, Mongolia Congo | N Africa, S Africa, E Africa Ctrl America | Western US, Eastern US, Venezuela E Africa | Madagascar, S Africa, Congo, N Africa, Egypt, Mideast E Australia | New Guinea, W Australia Eastern US | Quebec, Ontario, Western US, Ctrl America Egypt | S Europe, N Africa, E Africa, Mideast Greenland | Iceland, NW Territory, Ontario, Quebec Iceland | Scandinavia, Greenland, Britain India | Mideast, Afghanistan, China, Siam Indonesia | Siam, W Australia, New Guinea Irkutsk | Yakutsk, Siberia, Mongolia, Kamchatka Japan | Mongolia, Kamchatka Kamchatka | Yakutsk, Irkutsk, Japan, Mongolia, Alaska Madagascar | S Africa, E Africa Mideast | Ukraine, S Europe, Egypt, E Africa, India, Afghanistan Mongolia | Irkutsk, Siberia, China, Japan, Kamchatka N Africa | W Europe, Brazil, Congo, E Africa, Egypt, S Europe N Europe | Scandinavia, Ukraine, S Europe, W Europe, Britain New Guinea | E Australia, W Australia, Indonesia NW Territory | Greenland, Alaska, Alberta, Ontario Ontario | Greenland, Quebec, Eastern US, Western US, NW Territory, Alberta Peru | Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela Quebec | Greenland, Ontario, Eastern US S Africa | Congo, Madagascar, E Africa S Europe | N Europe, W Europe, Ukraine, N Africa, Egypt, Mideast Scandinavia | Ukraine, Iceland, Britain, N Europe Siam | India, China, Indonesia Siberia | Yakutsk, Irkutsk, Mongolia, China, Ural Ukraine | Ural, Scandinavia, N Europe, S Europe, Mideast, Afghanistan Ural | Siberia, Ukraine, Afghanistan, China Venezuela | Ctrl America, Brazil, Peru W Australia | Indonesia, New Guinea, E Australia W Europe | Britain, N Europe, S Europe, N Africa Western US | Alberta, Ontario, Eastern US, Ctrl America Yakutsk | Kamchatka, Siberia, Irkutsk ******************************************************************************* iii) Credits ******************************************************************************* GameFAQs - For hosting ___________________________ Apathetic Aardvark - 2004 | ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ