Re: [piecepack] RISK-y stuff. :)

[George Harnish <lefou23@...>]

Sounds like you're off on an awesome gaming oddesy!

I can't promise this will be a total hit, since it's completely  
untested. But, here's my simplified Piecepack Conquers the World:

You'll need an additional set of tiles, many colored tokens, or stones  
for each player, and an extra set of dice will be handy.
It is played on a world map divided into territories (here, we  
abstract territories into tiles).
One set of tiles will represent the world map.
Use two complete suits, and set aside the Ace from two suits, as well  
as the five from one of these two suits.
Lie the tiles on the table suit side up, with suits contiguous (they  
will represent continents). Represent that sailing off one edge of the  
board lands you on the opposite side by placing a pawn on the nearest  
territories on those opposite sides. (For example on the globe, we  
have Alaska "adjacent" to Kamchatka and Brazil adjacent to Western  
Africa)
 From the remaining tile set, set aside the same four you set aside in  
the other set. Shuffle the remaining tiles and keep them in a pile,  
number side down. These will be called cards.
Determine a starting player (usually by die roll).
Players have a certain number of starting counters representing  
armies. They each start with an equal number of armies.
We're starting with 14 tiles, so divide that by the number of players  
and add 6. (totally arbitrary, test it out)
Players take turns putting down an army of their color on a territory  
to claim it.
Once all territories are claimed, they take turn reinforcing their  
claimed territories by putting an army in an already claimed spot.
Once all armies are placed, the game begins.

At the beginning of every turn, including the first, the attacking  
player gets additional armies to place in their territories as desired.
Count the number of controlled territories and divide by two, dropping  
any fraction. The minimum number of new armies is two.
In addition, being in sole control of a continent gains a bonus. The  
smallest continent is worth two extra armies, the next largest is  
worth three extra armies and the two largest continents are worth four  
extra armies.
These bonus armies, and any gained from turning in cards are cumulative.

The starting player gets to attempt to conquer an opponent's territory.
In Risk, the attacking player rolls a number of dice equal to the  
number of armies that are attacking up to three dice. Officially, one  
attacking army may not participate in the attack, so you don't get to  
count that for dice.
The defender gets to roll a number of dice equal to the number of  
defending armies, up to two dice.
Line up the die rolls of each player, highest to lowest. If the  
attacker's highest roll beats the defender's highest roll, the  
defender loses one army. If the defender beats or ties the attacker's  
highest roll, the attacker loses one army. If there are a second set  
of die rolls for both players, use the same process to determine which  
side loses an army. Any extra dice are ignored.
If the attacker eliminates the defending army in a territory, the  
attacker must move at least as many armies as dice rolled into the  
newly conquered territory. The attacker may move more armies than  
this, but must leave at least one army behind.
The attacker may continue attacking (from anywhere) as long as they  
have enough armies to make the attempt.
If the attacker conquered at least one territory in their turn, the  
attacker draws a card from the face down pile.
Finally, the player to the attacker's left becomes the new attacker.

In future turns, players will have sets of cards. In this variant, I'd  
suggest either a pair (two matching numbers) or two of the same suit.  
The two Aces in this deck that were set aside from the map are wild,  
and may be used to complete a set.
Turning in a suit at the beginning of a turn gains the following:
First set is worth two extra armies. The next set is worth three extra  
armies. The next worth four, and each successive set is worth two more  
than the last set. A player may turn in more than one set in their  
turn, for a cumulative bonus.

If an attacker eliminates a player, they get all the cards the  
defender was holding.

If a player ever has five or more tiles in their hand at the beginning  
of their turn, they must turn in enough sets to drop below five cards.

Keep playing until one player Conquers the World!

On 25 Mar, 2008, at 4:49:03 PM, Emily wrote:

> I don't know the first thing about the board game "Risk" ... but I
> noticed a lot of "ported" games in the list of games. The neighbor
> kid loves "Risk."
>
> Is there any game that has a similar feel to Risk? I want to hit a
> home run the first time he tries a game. :)
>
>