RISK - Manual
RISK
The World Conquest Game
CONTENTS
The Rules of Risk.............................................. 3
Playing Risk................................................... 5
Risk Questions................................................ 12
Risk For Two Players.......................................... 15
Rules For Shorter Play........................................ 16
U.K. Game Variants............................................ 17
Loading....................................................... 18
Control Methods............................................... 19
The Setup Menu................................................ 23
Game Setup.................................................... 25
When It's Your Turn........................................... 26
Information................................................... 29
Game Variations............................................... 30
1
RISK
The Rules of Risk
In this classic game of military strategy, you battle to conquer the world.
To win, you must launch daring attacks, defend yourself on all fronts and
sweep across vast continents with boldness and cunning. However you must
remember the dangers, as well as the rewards, are high. Just when the
world is within your grasp... your opponents might strike and take it all
away!
OBJECT
To eliminate your opponents by occupying every territory. The
first player to do so wins the game and conquers the world.
THE MAP
On the screen is a map of six continents divided into 42
territories. The map is designed to facilitate play rather than to be
geographically accurate.
THE ARMIES
The number of armies will be shown by the number displayed in each
individual territory.
THE RISK CARDS
There are 44 RISK cards: one representing each of the 42
territories and two 'wild cards'. In the game, each card is marked with a
picture of Infantry, Calvary, or Artillery.
3
INITIAL PLACEMENT OF ARMIES
Unlike most games, RISK demands careful planning even before you actually
start to play. This part of the game sets the stage for the battles you
will fight later on.
1. The initial number of armies is determined by the number of
players.
If 2 are playing each player will receive 40 armies.
If 3 are playing each player will receive 35 armies.
If 4 are playing each player will receive 30 armies.
If 5 are playing each player will receive 25 armies.
If 6 are playing each player will receive 20 armies.
2. Roll the dice. Whoever rolls the highest number places one of
their armies onto any unoccupied territory, thus claiming that
territory.
3. Everyone, in turn, places one army onto any unoccupied territory
until all territories have been claimed.
4. After all 42 territories have been claimed, each player, in
turn, places one army onto any territory that they already
occupy. Play continues in this way until everyone has run out
of armies.
(There is a limit of 750 armies a player may place on one territory.)
5. Play begins with whoever placed the first army.
4
PLAYING RISK
On your turn, try to capture territories by defeating your opponents'
armies. But be careful. Winning your battles will depend on careful
planning, quick decisions and bold moves.
You have to place your forces wisely, attack at just the right time and
fortify your defenses against all enemies.
Each turn consists of three steps.
1. Getting and placing new armies.
2. Attacking
3. Fortifying your position
GETTING AND PLACING NEW ARMIES
At the beginning of each turn - including your first turn - you receive
additional armies. You may immediately place these armies onto any one or
more of your territories. You receive armies according to the number of
territories. You receive armies according to the number of territories you
occupy, the number of continents you control, and the number of matched
sets of RISK cards you can trade in.
TERRITORIES
At the beginning of your turn you receive armies based on the territories
you occupy. The computer will count the number of territories you
currently occupy, then divide the total by 3, discarding any fraction. The
answer is the number of armies you receive.
Example:
11 territories = 3 armies
14 territories = 4 armies
17 territories = 5 armies
You always receive at least three armies on a turn, even if you occupy
fewer than nine territories.
5
CONTINENTS
At the beginning of your turn, you also receive armies for each continent
you control. (To control a continent, you must occupy all its territories
at the start of your turn.)
The number of armies you'll receive is:
North America 5 armies South America 2 armies
Africa 3 armies Asia 7 armies
Europe 5 armies Australia 2 armies
RISK CARDS
Earning RISK cards helps you to get more armies. You earn one RISK card at
the end of each turn that you capture a territory. Then at the beginning
of subsequent turns, you receive additional armies for each matched set of
RISK cards you wish to trade in.
RISING SETS
To make a match, you must have one of the following combinations: three
cards of the same suit (Calvary, Artillery, Infantry); three cards of
different suits; or any two cards plus a 'wild' card.
The number of armies you receive for each matched set is as follows:
The first set traded in - 4 armies
The second set traded in - 6 armies
The third set traded in - 8 armies
The fourth set traded in - 10 armies
The fifth set traded in - 12 armies
The sixth set traded in - 15 armies
a) After the sixth set has been traded in, each additional set is worth
five more armies.
6
Example: If you trade in the seventh set, you get 20 armies; if you trade
in the eighth you get 25 armies, and so on.
b) "First" and "second" set etc., refer to sets traded in by anyone during
the game. Thus, if you trade in the third set in the game, you receive
eight armies, even if it is your first set.
c) Once you have five RISK cards, you must trade in the resulting matched
set at the beginning of your next turn.
d) If any of the three cards you trade in represent a territory you occupy,
you receive two extra armies. But you must place both these armies onto
that particular territory
On a single turn, you may receive no more than two extra armies. This is
true no matter how many matched sets of cards you trade in on that one
turn.
No matter how many armies you receive at the start of your turn, deploy
them carefully - either to prepare an attack or to defend against one.
FIXED SETS
A variation to make for a more challenging game is to play with a fixed
value for each set of cards.
A set of 3 artillery = 4 armies
A set of 3 infantry = 6 armies
A set of 3 calvary = 8 armies
A combination (one of each suit) = 10 armies
Wild cards still count as any.
7
ATTACKING
After placing your armies, you may attack if you wish. An attack is
actually one or more battles which are fought with dice. The object of an
attack is to capture a territory by defeating all the opposing armies
already on it.
If you wish to attack, you must follow these rules:
a) You may only attack a territory that's adjacent to one of your own.
Territories lying next to each other are adjacent.
Example:
Greenland is adjacent to the Northwest Territory and North Africa is
adjacent to Egypt.
Territories connected by lines are also adjacent.
Example: North Africa is adjacent ot Brazil and Alaska is adjacent to
Kamchatka.
b) You must always have at least two armies in the territory from which you
are attacking.
To attack, first select both the territory you are attacking and the one
from which you are attacking. The computer will then roll the dice
automatically.
c) You, the attacker, are allowed to roll one, two or three dice, but you
must have at least one more army in your territory than the number of dice
you roll. The more dice you roll, the greater your odds of winning.
Yet - as you will learn later - the more dice you roll, the more armies you
may lose.
8
d) The defender may roll either one or two dice. To roll two dice,
however, they must have at least two armies on the territory under attack.
The more dice the defender rolls, the greater their chance of winning. Yet
the more dice the defender rolls, the more armies they may lose.
The battle is decided by comparing the highest die that each of you has
rolled. If your die is higher, the defender loses one army from the
territory under attack. If the defender's die is higher, you lose one army
from your territory of attack. Then, if each of you has rolled more than
one die, compare the next-highest dice and repeat the procedure. In case
of a tie, the defender always wins.
Example 1
Attacker's Dice Defender's Die
1
6 <-- Highest Pay --> 2
1
RESULT
Defender Loses One Army
Example 2
Attacker's Dice Defender's Dice
6 <-- Highest Pay --> 3
1
2 <-- Next Highest Pay --> 2
RESULT
Defender Loses One Army and
Attacker Loses One Army
Example 3
Attacker's Dice Defender's Dice
3 <-- Highest Pay --> 4
3 <-- Next Highest Pay --> 3
RESULT
Attacker Loses Two Armies
Example 4
Attacker's Die Defender's Dice
6 <-- Highest Pay --> 5
4
RESULT
Defender Loses One Army
9
On a single turn, you may:
e) Attack one or more adjacent territories from one or more of your own
territories.
f) Shift your attack from one territory to another, attacking each as often
as you like.
CAPTURING TERRITORIES
As soon as you defeat the last opposing army on a territory, you capture
that territory and must occupy it immediately. To do so, move in at least
as many armies as the number of dice you rolled in your last battle.
However always leave at least one army behind. During the game, every
territory must always be occupied by at least one army.
ENDING YOUR ATTACK
You may end your attack at any time. You will then be given one RISK card
if you have captured one or more territories on your turn.
ELIMINATING AN OPPONENT
If, during your turn, you eliminate an opponent by defeating their last
army, you will win any RISK cards that player has. If, by doing so, you
then hold six or more cards, you must immediately trade matched sets until
you have four or fewer cards. In this way, you earn additional armies,
which you immediately place onto any territory or territories you occupy.
REMEMBER: If you don't want to attack on your turn, you don't have to
attack.
10
FORTIFYING YOUR POSITION
At the end of your turn you may, if you wish, strengthen your position. To
do this, move as many of your armies as you like from one (and only one) of
your territories into one (and only one) of your adjacent territories.
a) In moving your armies from one territory to another, you must leave at
least one army behind.
b) No matter what you've done on your turn, you may, if you wish, end it by
fortifying your position. To fortify your position, you are not required
to win a battle or even to try an attack.
This procedure can also be referred to as the "Free Move".
WINNING
The winner is the first player to eliminate every opponent by capturing all
42 territories on the board.
11
RISK QUESTIONS
Q. When I place my armies at the beginning of the game, what strategy
should I use?
A. If possible, try to occupy an entire continent at the beginning of the
game. This will give you additional armies right from the start. If this
is not possible, try to occupy as many adjacent territories as you can.
Then, after all the territories have been claimed, place your remaining
armies on your border territories as a line of defense against possible
attack. At all costs, try not to scatter your territories around the
board. Doing so will weaken your position. Your territories will be
isolated from one another and subject to capture.
Q. When do I receive additional armies?
A. Whenever you start your turn, you receive additional armies based on the
territories, continents and RISK cards you already control. However, if
you eliminate an opponent during your turn, you immediately receive
whatever additional armies that opponent's RISK cards entitle you to
receive.
Q. Where should I place my additional armies?
A. If you wish to attack, place some of your armies onto the territories
from which you plan to attack. Then place the remaining armies onto any of
your weakened border territories. If you are in a purely defensive
position, place all your armies onto weakened border territories.
12
Q. How many RISK cards can I win on a single turn?
A. No matter how many territories you capture on a turn, you get only one
RISK card at the end of that turn.
Q. Should I trade in RISK cards as soon as I make a match?
A. Not necessarily. There are three reasons why you might want to have a
matched set:
1. By waiting until your opponents turn in sets, you increase the
number of armies you'll receive for your set.
2. If you are on the defensive, you might want to save any
additional armies until you are ready to attack.
3. Since you win two extra armies whenever one of the cards you
trade in matches the territory you occupy, you might want to
wait until you occupy the territory before trading in the set
(see Exchanging Cards, page 32.)
Q. How long may I attack on a turn?
A. On a single turn, you may if you wish, attack any adjacent territories
for as long as you like, provided you have at least two armies on the
territory you're attacking from.
Q. What is the advantage of not attacking on my turn?
A. By not attacking on your turn, you avoid two things. First, you avoid a
possible loss of armies. Second, you avoid spreading yourself too thin by
moving armies from one territory into another.
13
Q. When I am attacking or defending, how many dice should I roll?
A. As you have no doubt learned, the more dice you roll, the greater your
odds of winning. Yet, at the same time, the more dice you roll, the more
armies you might lose. When attacking or defending, weigh the importance
of these two factors. Then roll accordingly.
Q. When should I stop attacking and end my turn?
A. To win, you must attack and conquer territory. Yet this does not mean
that you should attack every adjacent territory on every turn. The longer
you attack, the more armies you may lose and the more spread out and
vulnerable you'll be. After all, the more territories you occupy, the
fewer the armies you'll likely to have on each one. This might make it
easier for your opponents to capture your territories and perhaps even
eliminate you from the game.
14
RISK For Two Players
This version is played like regular RISK, with one important exception.
Along with your armies and those of your opponent, there are also "neutral"
armies on the board. During the game, these "neutral" armies act as a
buffer between you and your opponent. This feature gives the two-player
version much the same strategic flavor as that found in regular RISK.
INITIAL PLACEMENT
You and your opponent each select 40 armies. The computer selects a third
set to be "neutral". The computer will randomly distribute the
territories. After each territory on the board has been claimed, take
turns placing the remaining armies. On your turn place three armies on to
the board: two armies into any one or two of the territories you occupy,
and one army onto any "neutral" territory. Place it to block your
opponents' possible advance.
ATTACKING
On your turn, you may attack any territory adjacent to one of your own.
Whenever you attack a "neutral" territory, the computer rolls to defend
that "neutral" territory. "Neutral" armies cannot attack and never receive
reinforcements during the game.
WINNING
To win, be the first to eliminate your opponent by capturing all of their
territories.
a) To win, you do not have to eliminate the "neutral" armies.
b) Usually, all "neutral" armies are eliminated before the end of the game.
If this happens, don't worry. Play continues until one player defeats the
other.
15
Rules For Shorter Play
HEADQUARTERS
1. After deploying your armies at the beginning of the game, select one of
the territories you've claimed and make it your Headquarters. Do not
reveal the territory you've chosen.
2. Everyone, in turn, selects a Headquarters. Once everyone has done this
the Headquarters are revealed to all players and the computer automatically
removes the cards from the deck.
3. The object of this game is to capture all opposing Headquarters. The
first player to capture these territories while also controlling their own
Headquarters, is the winner.
4. The game may be shortened even further by setting a lower number of
Headquarters to be occupied.
16
U.K. Game Variant
The UK standard game is played differently from the one played in the US.
All the UK options have been included for added variety.
INITIAL PLACEMENT OF ARMIES (U.K. Variant)
At the beginning of the game territories are chosen randomly, instead of
being chosen by the players. The computer will automatically choose random
territories for all players.
MISSION CARDS (UK Standard game)
Each player is dealt a mission card by the computer at the beginning of the
game Players may look at their mission card after the initial distribution
of territories, and at any time during their turn.
The player wins the game by fulfilling the mission described on their card.
The mission card in computer RISK is displayed on the right of the screen,
and may be examined by selecting it with the sword pointer.
If fewer than six players are playing, the mission cards referring to
non-participating players are removed from the pack. This action is
automatically done by the computer.
COMPLETING A MISSION
The player who first carries out the objective as defined on his/her
mission card exposes the card for the other player to check and wins the
game.
17
If player number 1 fulfills the mission of player number 2 (by, for
example, eliminating all player number 3's armies), the second player's
mission now changes to "Conquer 24 territories".
UK TWO PLAYER GAME
The object of the game is to eliminate the opponents' armies and the first
to do so is the winner regardless of the neutral's standing at the time.
Play is as in the main game except as modified below.
Example: A player owns 19 territories and controls Africa. The player will
receive 6 + 3 = 9 armies. The neutral receives 4 armies.
The computer distributes the extra neutral armies in neutral-held regions
at random before the first player has deployed reinforcements.
The neutral never attacks and therefore does not receive RISK cards and may
not redeploy.
18
Loading RISK
IBM - Boot the Computer (using DOS 2.1 or later). Insert Disk One into
Drive A: on your computer.
Type RISK and press RETURN
You will be prompted to select the input device (Microsoft compatible
Mouse, Joystick or Keyboard) that you wish to use. If you select Mouse,
RISK assumes that you already have your mouse driver loaded. RISK installs
its own special drivers if you select Joystick or Keyboard.
IBM HARD DISK INSTALLATION
At the C> prompt, create a Directory and copy all the files from the
program disks to that directory.
Example: With the program disk in drive A type:
MD Risk <RETURN>
Copy A:*.* C:\Risk <RETURN>
(repeat for each disk)
Loading from the hard disk: At the C> prompt, change directories (CD RISK
<RETURN>), then type RISK <RETURN>.
ATARI ST and APPLE MACINTOSH - Switch on the computer and insert the disk.
The program will autoboot.
COMMODORE AMIGA - Switch on the computer and boot as usual (inserting the
Kickstart disk if you have an A1000). Insert the RISK disk when the
workbench prompt appears.
As RISK loads it first displays a title screen and then the credits. Press
a key or button to continue. When RISK has loaded, you will be prompted to
select an option from the menus.
19
CONTROL METHODS
IBM PC
Computer RISK allows you to play all of the versions of the game described
in the first section of this manual, and many more besides. Computer RISK
is a "menu driven program". This means that you control it by "pulling
down" menus and selecting actions from them. The Computer RISK menus
contain all the actions that you require to play RISK.
To pull down a menu, move the sword pointer using a Microsoft Compatible
Mouse, Joystick or the Cursor Keys (depending on which input device you
selected earlier) to point at the appropriate menu and press the left hand
mouse button (or joystick fire button, or 5 key on the keypad). Try this
now: move the sword up to the RISK menu at the top left hand side of the
screen. (If you are using the keyboard, you can vary the speed of the
pointer by pressing keys F1 (slow) through F10 (fast).
Once you have pulled down the menu, you will see a list of options (on the
RISK menu there is only one - About RISK). By moving the pointer down the
list you can highlight the option you require; try this now by selecting
About RISK. If you did everything correctly, you will be shown a screenful
of information about the program. In the bottom right hand
20
corner is the word OK in a circle. Press this "button" with the sword when
you have seen enough.
Hint: Pressing the Return key on the keyboard has the same effect as
pressing the OK button and saves you moving the sword pointer.
To cancel a menu if you pull it down by accident, simply move the sword
pointer off of it and press the button.
At some stages of the game items in the menus cannot be selected; for
example you can't select Show Cards in the PLAY menu unless you have some
RISK cards to show. The option will be displayed "dimmed" to indicate
this.
Some of the frequently used options on the PLAY menu can be selected
automatically using special "Hot Keys" on the keyboard, so you don't have
to go to the trouble of pulling the menu down. These will be described
later.
ATARI ST
Computer RISK uses the standard GEM conventions.
COMMODORE AMIGA
Computer RISK uses the standard "Intuition" conventions.
APPLE MACINTOSH
Computer RISK uses the standard Apple Macintosh conventions. An Apple
Macintosh has only one mouse button. This is equivalent to the "left mouse
button" on the other computers where this is referred to later in the
manual.
THE PLAY SCREEN
RISK is played on a map of the world. On the CGA, Tandy, Atari ST and
Amiga versions of Computer RISK only part of the play map is shown at one
time (the screen resolution is
21
insufficient to show the entire world map). The portion of the map that is
displayed can be changed by moving the mouse whilst holding down the right
hand button (or by moving the joystick whilst holding down the secondary
fire button, or by selecting "Num Lock" on the keyboard and using the
cursor keys on the IBM). Remember to release/deselect the "Num Lock" key
when you don't need to move the map otherwise the computer will get
confused as to which part of the map to display when it tries to move the
map itself.
On the EGA and Hercules versions the entire map is displayed at once so the
right mouse button is not used. (On the Apple Macintosh version, the
entire map is displayed at once so there is no need for a second mouse
button).
At the bottom of the screen is a blank area. Computer RISK will display
messages in this area to inform you what is happening.
The RISK card represented at the right of the screen acts in different ways
when you select it depending on which game type you are playing.
STARTING A GAME
To start a game of computer RISK, pull down the FILE menu and select New
Game. You will be prompted for the total number of players (both human and
computer-controlled) that wish to play. Select the number by "pressing"
the appropriate button.
Hint: On the IBM, Atari ST or Apple Macintosh, to select the default reply
("6" in this case, shown in a button with a horizontal boundary) you need
only press the RETURN key.
22
THE SETUP MENU
Next you will be prompted to enter each player's name. To accept the
default, simply select the OK button or press RETURN. To reject the
default name and enter your own, ensure the edit box is "live" (if
necessary, select it with the sword pointer) and then enter your own name.
When you are happy, select the OK button.
Now you will be prompted for the skill level of the player whose name has
just been entered. For human players select the "Human" button, otherwise
select one of the computer levels. They all play a fairly good game, but
the Good player is more cautions, and the Easy player more careless than
the Standard player.
Finally you will be asked to select the game type you wish to play.
Computer RISK supports four standard games, the primary game types offered
in the two versions of the board game:
UK FULL GAME
English card graphics are used
Initial territory selection is random
Card set exchange rates are fixed by set type
The first player to conquer the World wins.
US FULL GAME
American card graphics are used
Initial territory selection is manual
Card set exchange rates increase
The first player to conquer the World wins.
23
UK SHORT GAME
English card graphics are used
Initial territory selection is random
Card set exchange rates are fixed by set type
The first player to complete a mission wins.
US SHORT GAME
American card graphics are used
Initial territory selection is manual
Card set exchange rates increase
The first player to occupy the enemy HQs wins.
In addition, computer RISK allows you to design your own game using any of
the available options. For example, you could set up a UK SHORT game with
missions, but with manual initial territory selection and increasing rather
than fixed set exchange rate.
Finally, if you elected to design your own game, there is a special option
available to you - Special Setup. When this option is On, the initial
territory setup AND reinforcing is done randomly for all players. This
speeds the game setup considerably, and reduces some of the advantage that
experienced players have over beginners, in knowing where to concentrate
their armies at the beginning of a game.
If at any stage you make a mistake, you can press the ESC key on the
keyboard to start again. (On the Macintosh press the "clover leaf" style
command key and the full stop/period).
UK SHORT GAME
If you selected this game type then the missions will be displayed at this
point. You can elect whether or not to see the computer player missions
(cheat!). Each player will be prompted to view their mission in turn (so
that other human players can look away from the screen). When your mission
has been viewed, press the MISSION button.
24
THE GAME SETUP
PLACING THE ARMIES
If the initial territory selection is random, then the computer will
automatically place armies for each player until every territory is
occupied. If the Special Setup has been selected then the computer will
place ALL of the armies for each player.
Computer players will place their armies automatically. The message area
at the bottom of the screen will tell you what is going on.
When your turn comes to place an army, you will be prompted to do so and
the sword pointer will turn into a compass pointer and you will be able to
move it over the map on the screen (CGA, Tandy, Atari ST and Amiga users,
remember that you can also scroll the map). The territory that you are
over will appear at the bottom of the message area. To select the required
territory, press the left mouse button.
If you make a mistake, an error message will be displayed. Select OK or
press RETURN to continue.
US SHORT GAME
If you selected this game type, then each player in turn will be able to
select their Headquarters after all the initial armies have been placed (so
bear this in mind when you are placing your initial armies!). You will
also be prompted for the number of HQs that must be occupied to win the
game. For a very short game, set this to 2 (yours and 1 other). For a
longer game, use more.
25
WHEN IT'S YOUR TURN
REINFORCING
At the start of your turn, you will be given at least three armies with
which to reinforce your territories. You will be given additional armies
depending on the number of territories and complete continents that you
occupy. First select the territory and then select the number of armies you
wish to place there (either by accepting the default or entering the exact
number you require. You must repeat this operation until all of your
reinforcements have been placed. If you select the wrong territory by
accident, you can press the ESC key (on the Macintosh the "clover leaf" key
and full stop/period) to avoid having to place armies there.
MAKING AN ATTACK
Pull down the PLAY menu and select New Attack (or press the "N" Hot Key).
Next select one of your territories to attack from, and an adjacent enemy
territory to attack. Press the ESC key (the 'clover leaf' key and full
stop/period on the Macintosh) if you make a mistake and want to cancel the
attack. Next you must select the number of dice you are going to use in
the attack. Note that if you have only three armies in the territory you
are attacking from you can use only one or two dice. If you have only two
armies then one die is selected automatically. Next your opponent will
choose the number of dice he/she wishes to defend with. Then, the dice
roll and the battle is engaged. The dice will be shown at the middle right
of the screen near the RISK card. The computer automatically removes the
armies lost from each side. If you have destroyed your opponent's last
army, you will be asked how many armies you wish to invade with, and the
26
appropriate number will be moved into the captured territory. Remember, if
you throw three dice, you must move in at least three armies!
REPEATING AN ATTACK
If you did not manage to invade the territory after the first battle, you
can select Repeat Attack in the PLAY menu (or press the "R" Hot Key).
Doing this avoids the need to re-select the territories involved.
CONTINUOUS ATTACK and DO OR DIE ATTACK
These two special options automatically continue attacks started by New
Attack or Repeat Attack. When they are enabled, a check mark appears next
to them in the menu. Selecting them a second time disables them and
removes the check mark. Continuous Attack will automatically repeat an
attack (using the same territories and dice selections) until the attacker
loses a battle or the defender is destroyed. Do Or Die Attack will repeat
an attack until the defender is destroyed or the attacker has only one army
left. These options cannot be enabled simultaneously. These options can
be selected at any time (including when no game is in progress, read for
the start of a new game).
SHOWING CARDS
If you have one or more RISK cards then the Show Cards Option in the PLAY
menu (or Hot Key "C") will show them to you, along with the value of the
next set to be exchanged. Select OK to redisplay the main play screen.
27
MAKING A FREE MOVE
At the end of your turn you can, if you wish, move armies from one
territory to reinforce an adjacent territory. This is known as the Free
Move and is selected from the PLAY menu (or press the "F" Hot Key). You
will be prompted for the territories and the number of armies involved and
the move will take place. If you are not playing with the Supply Lines
game variant (see Game Variations), your turn will be ended automatically,
otherwise you can continue to select Free Move until you choose to end your
turn. Once you've made a free move you can't take it back by pressing the
ESC key.
ENDING YOUR TURN
To end your turn, select End Turn from the PLAY menu or press the ESC key
(or "clover leaf" key and full stop/period on the Macintosh). If you have
conquered one or more territories during your turn, you are awarded a RISK
card.
EXCHANGING CARDS
The computer will automatically detect if you can make a set of RISK cards
from those held in your hand and if so it will give you the opportunity of
exchanging them at the beginning of your turn. You MUST exchange a set if
you have five cards or more. Select three cards to exchange by moving the
sword pointer to the required cards and pressing the left mouse button.
The selected cards will be highlighted. If you make a mistake, select the
card a second time and choose again. When you are happy with your choice,
select Exchange. If you decide you don't want to exchange after all,
select Cancel.
To additional bonus armies are awarded for each card you exchange showing a
territory that you occupy. These are placed in that territory. In the US
version of the game, this only applies to the first match of this kind per
turn.
28
INFORMATION
The INFO menu contains information to help you make decisions about your
strategy. These options are also available after a game allowing you to
analyze the end result.
Battles presents you with a "league table" showing who has won and lost the
most battles and invasions.
Territories shows you the number of territories, continents and armies
owned by each player, as well as a conversion chart showing the number of
bonus armies available for holding entire continents.
Cards shows you the number of RISK cards held by each player (but not what
they are!). Select OK to return to the main play screen.
Full Map (CGA, Tandy, Atari ST and Amiga only) displays a full screen map
of the World (without army numbers), showing the distribution of
territories amongst the players. Press a key or button to return to the
main play screen.
Key (Macintosh only) shows the patterns used to shade the territories for
each player. (On the other computers there is enough room on the screen to
keep the key permanently displayed).
THE RISK CARD
Selecting the RISK card displays information pertinent to the game type
being played. In UK short games it displays the current player's mission.
In US short games it displays the headquarters of all the players,
highlighting those occupied by the current player.
29
GAME VARIATIONS
The game variations available in the American version of the board game are
available in Computer RISK from the VARIANTS menu. They can be used in any
valid combination with ANY game setup.
Low Exchange Rate (valid only when sets of RISK cards increase in value)
reduces the change in value between subsequent sets to One. Selecting this
option a second time returns the exchange rate to normal. The change comes
into effect after the next set of cards are exchanged.
Supply Lines allows players to make multiple free moves at the end of their
turns.
Army Limit allows the setting of a limit to the number of armies that may
be placed in a single territory. When first selected, you will be prompted
to enter a value for the army limit (permissable range: 5 to 750). The
default value is 12, this being the recommended value in the board game.
Any territories with more than the permissable army limit are brought into
line. If this option is selected again, then the army limit is cancelled.
If, when allocating reinforcements, the computer finds that there are too
many to place on the map, that player loses an amount of armies such that
he can reinforce his territories only just up to the limit. A message on
screen alerts the player to this fact.
30
Bonus armies obtained when a player occupies the territory on a RISK card
being exchanged are similarly affected.
Note: When there is no army limit enabled, there is effectively a limit of
750.
Attack Advantage and Commander Advantage when enabled will prompt the
player whenever an opportunity for using such an advantage arises. The
lowest dice thrown is automatically chosen to be changed. Computer players
use the advantages (when enabled) at their own discretion, informing the
human players of the fact in the message area.
OTHER OPTIONS
There are several options to add to your enjoyment of computer RISK:
Save Game in the FILE menu will save the current state of play to the disk
so that you can resume the game later. You will be prompted for the
filename you wish to use (default: RISKFILE).
Resume Game in the FILE menu allows you to resume a previously saved game.
Enter the filename of the game to load in (default RISKFILE) just as you
did when you saved it. All the game settings will be just as they were
when the game was saved.
Extend game in the PLAY menu allows you to turn a short game into a full
game. You will be prompted to confirm your request in case you selected
this option by accident.
End Game in the PLAY menu allows you to abandon a game without completing
it. You will be prompted to confirm your request in case you selected this
option by accident.
31
Change Sides in the OPTIONS menu allows you to change positions with any
player. Simply enter the number of the player you want to change with.
Computer players will always let you change with them. Human players will
be prompted for their consent first. Executing this option will
automatically end your turn.
Cheat in the OPTIONS menu allows you to conquer any territory in the world
simply by selecting it with the compass pointer!
Sound in the OPTIONS menu allows you to turn the sound on or off.
Fast Game in the OPTIONS menu is useful once you become experienced at
playing computer RISK. It switches all of the delays in the message
display off and makes several other minor changes to the game to make the
action take place at top speed. A similar effect may be introduced
temporarily by holding down a mouse button - this is particularly useful in
speeding through the computer players' turns.
Automatic Dice in the OPTIONS menu also speeds the game up. It does this
by removing the prompts to human players for the number of dice they wish
to use and instead using the maximum permissible number automatically.
Change Colors in the OPTIONS menu (not Hercules mono or Apple Macintosh)
allows you to change the colors of the screen and/or the players.
32
Map Scroll in the OPTIONS menu (CGA, Tandy, Atari ST and Commodore Amiga
only) determines whether the map window is scrolled by the computer
players, or immediately centered on the territories of interest. Switching
map scroll off can speed up the game considerable.
Map Direction in the OPTIONS menu (CGA, Tandy, Atari ST and Commodore Amiga
only) reverses the direction in which the map scrolls under control of the
mouse, joystick or keyboard. Experiment to find your own preference.
Shutdown in the FILE menu terminates the session and reboots your computer.
You will be prompted to confirm your request in case you selected this
option by accident. (This option is Quit on the Macintosh and returns you
to the desktop).
33
COMPUTER PLAYER OPTIONS
During the turn of computer players, a cannon is displayed instead of the
sword pointer. If you wish you can still pull down menus to access most of
the available options. This enables you to force a computer player to end
their turn, display their cards and so on. However, the menus will not
respond until a computer player has finished the next stage of its
strategy, so be patient.
THE NEUTRAL GAME
Computer RISK supports both the US and UK versions of the Neutral game
which you may wish to play even though there are computer opponents
available. To select the Neutral game, start a game with just two players
(either computer and/or human). After entering the names and skill levels
you will be asked if you want a neutral player. You can answer "No" in
which case you can play a two-player game (an addition to the standard RISK
rules), however it would be normal to replay "Yes". All Neutral games must
begin with random territory selection - you will be reminded of this if you
have set up a game with manual selection.
In the UK version of the neutral game, each neutral territory starts with 2
armies and is reinforced at the start of each turn with half the armies
available to the player.
In the US version of the neutral game, each neutral territory starts with
one army and is reinforced at the beginning of the game only.
Being neutral, the neutral player is exempt from the army limit!
34
---
Provided by THE SOUTHERN STAR for M.A.A.D. |
View printer-friendly version