ccrdan@ucdavis.UUCP (Dan Gold) (08/19/85)
As it seems like a lot of people have a fondness for that classic, Risk,
so I thought I would post this expansion that appeared in TSR's "The Dragon"
magazine (no comments please) a while ago (Vol. IV, No. 8). For those
who are short on time, these rules will definitely speed up the game.
Dan Gold
...ucbvax!ucdavis!minnie:ccrdan
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Feel Like RISKing Everything?
Adding Thermonuclear Tension to a Classic Game
By George Laking
As anyone knows who has played Risk, victory in the
game is often a combination of lasting through the 255th
battle turn, handing in the 34th set of cards for 1,019
armies and rolling straight 6's on defense! To both shorten
the game and return the excitement and tension (which is
often lost in the slow buildup of ponderous Risk hordes),
the following "nuclear options" are presented.
Two modifications are necessary before play can begin:
(1) Draw in additional oceanic paths between Western
Australia and Madagascar, and between Argentina and Eastern
Australia. [Ed note: for you wargamers, use your 1/4" thick,
4' X 4' piece of glass and marking pen!]
(2) Only five players may participate--the sixth
player's pieces are used to represent nuclear weapons and
areas of destruction (the RED player's pieces are considered
particularly appropriate for this use). Alternately, six
may play if suitable pieces (coins, small poker chips,
counters, etc.) are available to represent each player's
nuclear arsenal.
Nuclear Moratorium
From the beginning of the game through the end of the
third game-turn, no nuclear weapons may be used. At the
beginning of the fourth turn, they may be employed freely at
the discretion of the owning player.
First Strike: The player who first uses nuclear
weapons (thereby initiating thermonuclear holocaust!) may
DOUBLE the effect of his nuclear weapons for that turn only
(see Nuclear Weapons, Offensive Capabilities (below) for
effects). This bonus is given both for initiative and
surprise. Note that if he does not use all the nuclear
weapons in the arsenal, the others effect is not doubled on
succeeding turns.
Nuclear Builds
Nuclear weapons may be built instead of--but not in
addition to--regular armies. A player may: (1) build regu-
lar armies only, (2) build nuclear weapons only, or (3)
build a combination of both, provided the total of both reg-
ular armies and nuclear weapons does not exceed his total
allowable builds from cards, continent bonuses, etc. each
turn.
Nuclear weapons are deployed like regular armies at the
beginning of a player's turn. However, they may not be
redeployed until the strategic phase of that player's turn,
with all the limitations placed on them as on regular armies
for strategic redeployment.
Nuclear Weapons
(1) Offensive Capabilities: One nuclear weapon
automatically destroys one army unit in the target nation.
Range is unlimited for an offensive nuclear weapon, i.e. it
can reach any target nation on the board from any launching
site on the board.
(2) Defensive Capabilities: One nuclear weapon used in
a defensive capacity automatically seeks out and destroys
one offensive nuclear weapon in the air, within the follow-
ing limitation:
Range of defensive nuclear weapons is limited to the
nation in which they are stationed and those nations immedi-
ately adjacent. Adjacent nations are defined as those hav-
ing a contiguous border with the nation in which the defen-
sive nuclear weapons are stationed. Bodies of water negate
the adjacent-nation status.
(3) Dual Mission: The players should note that each
nuclear weapon has both offensive and defensive capability.
The actual employment of the weapon in either its attack or
defense role is at the individual player's discretion.
(4) Use: Nuclear weaponry may be used any time during
the combat portion of a player's turn. The attacker need
only state his intention of using nuclear weapons, the tar-
get nation and the number of weapons used. The defending
player then states his intention to defend (if he can) and
the number of weapons used in defense.
The attack is resolved first by trading off defensive
and offensive weapons on a one-for-one basis and removing
them from the board. Any excess in offensive weapons
remaining then strikes the defending armies in the target
nation, removing them--again--on a one-for-one basis. Nor-
mal combat may then follow (or continue) at the attacker's
option.
(5) Results: If all the defending armies in a target
nation are destroyed through the use of nuclear weapons
alone, that nation becomes an impassable nuclear wasteland
for one complete turn. Although destroyed, that nation
still counts toward the owning player's builds and control
of that continent.
The only restriction is that no player may advance
armies into such a territory until the beginning of that
player's turn who originally "wasted" that nation, and then
only in the strategic movement phase of each player's turn.
Note that this gives the destroying player the advantage
since, in his strategic movement phase, he can advance
armies into the territory and take it for his own side!
A player may waste his own armies through nuclear
attack in order to create impassable "dead" zones between
himself and the enemy hordes. However, if a least one
defending army remains after nuclear attack, that nation
does not become a wasteland and the offensive player may
attack it again (at his option) conventionally.
While nuclear weapons can destroy armies on the ground
they cannot destroy other nuclear weapons unless airborne.
All player's arsenals are assumed to be deeply buried in
bomb-proof bunkers so that only a rare direct hit might des-
troy a single weapon. Direct attacks against another
player's arsenal are, therefore, not allowed.
(6) Defense Against Ground Attack: Nuclear weapons
have no defense against conventional ground attack. If all
the defending armies in a nation are destroyed by the
enemy's regular armies and there is at least one attacking
army left, all nuclear weapons stationed in that nation are
automatically destroyed and removed from the board.
Doomsday Device
If any player is wiped out in a single turn through
nuclear attack alone, his remaining nuclear weapons ar not
automatically removed from play (since nuclear weapons can-
not destroy each other on the ground). Instead, that player
may take an IMMEDIATE final strike against the player(s) of
his choice, using whatever nuclear weapons remain in his
arsenal at the end.
Diplomacy
It is STRONGLY suggested that players form alliances
and make limited treaties and non-aggression pacts well
before the use of nuclear weapons becomes legal in the game.
While such alliances and treaties are not binding on any
player, they certainly help prevent turning 90% of the world
into a glowing, radioactive waste on turn four!
Experimental Rule
Nuclear Submarines: Each player may place up to three
nuclear weapons at sea in each of the following ocean areas:
(a) Arctic, (b) Atlantic, (c) Antarctic, (d) Mediterranean,
and (e) Pacific. Such nuclear weapons may be used in an
offensive capacity only.
Such weapons may not be attacked by conventional or
nuclear arms while "at sea." Range of submarine-fired
nuclear weapons is limited to those nations which are
immediately adjacent to an ocean area in which those nuclear
weapons are stationed, i.e. the target nation must have a
coastline on a body of water where an attacker's submarine-
based nuclear weapons are stationed in order to be attacked.
Discussion
The above variant rules to Risk were first conceived at
U.S. Naval Base, Rota, Spain (hence the inclusion of the
experimental nuclear submarines rule) and later fully play-
tested by members of the Mid-Columbia Wargaming Society of
Richland, Washington. Richland is also the site of the Han-
ford Nuclear Reservation, where nuclear power plants are
being built to generate electricity! Needless to say,
Nuclear Risk has a large following in the area.
In the playtesting sessions, it became obvious that
additional paths were needed to prevent losing Australia and
the entire Western Hemisphere early in the game. Both areas
are too easy to defend with conventional forces, thus draw-
ing nuclear fire and reducing them to separate piles of
radioactive ash. Try playing these rules without the addi-
tional paths and you'll understand what we mean!
For the same reason, the nuclear moratorium was added
to allow the players to consolidate a continent and build up
forces--both conventional and nuclear--before the bombs
started falling. The variant can be played without the
moratorium, but an optional "trading period"--allowing the
players to trade nations in order to gain a continent--
should be added. Even so, games without the moratorium rule
will go extremely fast (ten turns or less) and be less than
satisfying
The "first strike" rule places both an advantage and a
disadvantage on the player who goes first once the morato-
rium is lifted. The advantage is obvious: more destruction
per weapon if you push the button before anyone else does.
The disadvantage is that everyone else knows you have that
advantage! This requires a certain amount of diplomacy to
prevent being the target of a multi-player alliance, and
some risk-taking if you choose not to fire your missiles
first. Optionally, the players can roll each turn for first
move (beginning with the fourth turn) until someone actually
uses his nuclear weapons.
Tactics enter the game when the player uses his nuclear
weapons to aid a conventional attack.
Ideally there are three possibilities:
(1) Attack first with nuclear weapons to "soften up" a
position and then go in with conventional forces. This
works best against such positions as the Siam barrier and
other bottlenecks.
(2) Attack conventionally first and, if the battle
turns against you, use nuclear weapons to bring your
opponent's number down to your favor again. At that point,
return to the attack with conventional forces until you win
that battle (note that this tactic can be applied repeatedly
to the same battle if your opponent continually rolls high
on defense).
(3) Begin the attack conventionally and end with a
nuclear strike against your opponent's surviving armies.
This is a "desperation" tactic to be used only if your
nuclear arsenal is running low and/or your are fighting
defensively on that front (trying to gain a single card
through conquest). It works best when you have the manpower
to spare.
One important strategy was discovered in playtesting
this variant: creating "dead" zones by nuking out your own
(or your opponent's) armies. This is both offensive and
defensive in nature: defensively, it allows you to trade
space for time as you build up forces to return to the stra-
tegic movement phase--thereby gaining a card if you haven't
overrun anyone else that turn!
Other strategies are possible using the Nuclear Risk
variant rules--strategies you'll discover when you sit down
to a short, fast game of Nuclear Risk. Battle fatigue
rarely sets in once the missiles begin flying, with most
games ending in an hour. Even games ending with the entire
world wasted can be useful, providing the broad "historical"
background to such games as Gamma World or After the Holo-
caust.
The next time you want some Risk action but don't have
ten hours to spare, try these rules and...
"Nuke'em 'til they glow!!!
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