Risk II
Encyclopedia
Risk II is the official computer and online
version of the classic board game
Risk
. Risk II was developed
by MicroProse
, designed by Deep Red
and published
by Hasbro Interactive
in 2000
. The graphics and sound far surpassed previous computer versions of the game.
In addition to the classic board game style of play, Risk II introduced new modes including a single-player tournament and a brand new concept called SameTime, in which turns are taken simultaneously by all players. Up to eight players can play, in any combination of human and computer opponents (as long as at least one player is human). Available computer opponents are an assortment of mostly 18th and 19th century generals: Campbell
, MacKenzie
, Marmont, Barbacena
, D'Erlon
, Maransin
, Solignac, Sherbrooke
, Aubert
, Spencer
, Taupin
, Freire, Vauban
, Baird
, Bonaparte
and Wellington
. Each computer opponent has a different style of attack and a different reliability in honoring alliances.
(depending on version, see below), which is one attack move at a time from one location. In this game type, you can attack as many times as you like, and may move through multiple territories with one army, although at least one unit has to be left in any territory you capture. You may also retreat from an attack and move units from one territory to another territory at the end of your attack turn, providing both territories are bordering.
Same Time Risk is a very different concept, and mostly suited for digital play. You may use two or more different armies from one or more different territories to attack a bordering territory.
After placing reinforcements and making your move, the map will show you your own and the enemies moves and where they will attack. Then you will fight every battle individually (unless AI are battling each other, in that case it is automatically resolved) until all moves have been played.
The Same Time concept requires dynamically different strategies from that of the Classic game. An attack from 2+ territories to a single enemy territory is called a 'Mass Invasion'. If two different teams attack a territory that fails to defend them, then a 'Spoils of War' battle ensues at the end of the turn between the two armies who fought for the territory in question. You can only move through one territory at a time when attacking, although one army is granted a 'Surge Attack', which can be used to thrust a designated amount of soldiers from a newly acquired territory into a neighboring one. If two armies meet when attacking, a 'Border Clash' battle occurs, which is the first to be resolved.
The dice are also different, and create a new strategy for using your soldiers. If you use 3 armies to attack (over 3 bordering territories), you will use 3 dice. If you use just 1 army, you will only use one die and so forth. Also, the greater the number of soldiers in the army, the different color of die you get. The darker the color, the more 'loaded' the die is. For example, if you have 30 or more soldiers then you receive a black die, which will usually roll 4-6's, whereas an army of 5 or less will use a white die, which rolls lower numbers more often. The other "loaded" ranks, from highest to lowest are: red, orange, yellow.
So, the ranks are, white, yellow, orange, red (dark), and a deep black.
Since the battle greatly favors the side that uses mass invasions (they get more dice), sitting back and defending is not a good idea. It is not uncommon for a two sided mass invasion to crash a defending army that is twice the invasion size. The player should try to mobilize all its border forces to attack whenever possible. This way the player can avoid the enemy mass invasions and fight some fair border clashes battle, damaging the enemy in the process. Most of the time the benefit of holding a continent border territory is not worth the risk of losings mass amount of soldiers from enemy mass invasions. And since the enemy is only allowed one surge attack per round the damage he can do to the player's inner territory is limited. In fact the enemy that surge attack deep into the player's territory risk having it crashed by the player's mass invasions in the next round, assuming the player can provide a reasonable resistance.
each one 10 point
Online game
An online game is a game played over some form of computer network. This almost always means the Internet or equivalent technology, but games have always used whatever technology was current: modems before the Internet, and hard wired terminals before modems...
version of the classic board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
Risk
Risk (game)
Risk is a strategic board game, produced by Parker Brothers . It was invented by French film director Albert Lamorisse and originally released in 1957 as La Conquête du Monde in France. Risk is a turn-based game for two to six players...
. Risk II was developed
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
by MicroProse
MicroProse
MicroProse was a video game publisher and developer, founded by Wild Bill Stealey and Sid Meier in 1982 as Microprose Software. In 1993, the company became a subsidiary of Spectrum HoloByte and has remained a subsidiary or brand name under several other corporations since...
, designed by Deep Red
Deep Red Games
DR Studios is a video game developer based in Milton Keynes in the United Kingdom. Deep Red primarily develops strategy games, such as Tycoon City: New York. The company was formed in 1998 by Kevin Buckner and Clive Robert, and since then they have released nine games...
and published
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
by Hasbro Interactive
Hasbro Interactive
Hasbro Interactive was an American video game production and publishing subsidiary of Hasbro, the large game and toy company.Hasbro Interactive was formed late in 1995 in order to compete in the computer and video game arena. Several Hasbro properties, such as Monopoly and Scrabble, had already...
in 2000
2000 in video gaming
-Events:* May 11–13 — 6th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo ; the 3rd annual Game Critics Awards for the Best of E³* June 26 — International Game Developers Association renamed from Computer Game Developers Association...
. The graphics and sound far surpassed previous computer versions of the game.
In addition to the classic board game style of play, Risk II introduced new modes including a single-player tournament and a brand new concept called SameTime, in which turns are taken simultaneously by all players. Up to eight players can play, in any combination of human and computer opponents (as long as at least one player is human). Available computer opponents are an assortment of mostly 18th and 19th century generals: Campbell
Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde
Field Marshal Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde GCB, KSI was a British Army officer from Scotland who led the Highland Brigade in the Crimea and was in command of the ‘Thin red line’ at the battle of Balaclava...
, MacKenzie
Alexander Mackenzie-Fraser
Lieutenant General Alexander Mackenzie-Fraser was a British General. He was known as Mackenzie until he took additional name of Fraser in 1803.- Family and early life :...
, Marmont, Barbacena
Felisberto Caldeira Brant, Marquis of Barbacena
Felisberto Caldeira Brant Pontes de Oliveira Horta, the Marquis of Barbacena was a soldier and statesman of both Portugal and the Empire of Brazil.- Life :...
, D'Erlon
Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon
Jean-Baptiste Drouet, comte d'Erlon was a marshal of France and a soldier in Napoleon's Army. D'Erlon notably commanded the I Corps of the Armée du Nord at the battle of Waterloo....
, Maransin
Jean-Pierre Maransin
Jean-Pierre Maransin was a Général de Division of the First French Empire who saw action during the Peninsular War. He was made Colonel of the 1st Legion du Midi on 27 January 1807 and promoted to Général de Brigade on 8 November 1808. He fought at the Battle of Albuera on 16 May 1811...
, Solignac, Sherbrooke
John Coape Sherbrooke
Sir John Coape Sherbrooke was a British soldier and colonial administrator. After serving in the British army in Nova Scotia, the Netherlands, India, the Mediterranean , and Spain, he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia in 1811.His active defense of the colony during the War of 1812...
, Aubert
Jean-Baptiste Annibal Aubert du Bayet
Jean-Baptiste Annibal Aubert du Bayet was a French General and politician during the period of the French Revolution.Aubert du Bayet was born in Baton-Rouge in the French American colony of Louisiana in 1759...
, Spencer
Brent Spencer (soldier)
General Sir Brent Spencer GCB was an officer in the British Army during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and was Lord Arthur Wellesley's second-in-command twice during the Peninsular War.-French Revolution:...
, Taupin
Eloi Charlemagne Taupin
General Eloi Charlemagne Taupin became a French soldier before the French Revolutionary Wars, rose in rank to command a division in the armies of Napoleon and was killed leading his troops in battle in 1814...
, Freire, Vauban
Vauban
Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them...
, Baird
Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet
General Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet GCB was a British military leader.-Military career:He was born at Newbyth House in Haddingtonshire, Scotland, the son of an Edinburgh merchant family, and entered the British Army in 1772. He was sent to India in 1779 with the 73rd Highlanders, in which he...
, Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
and Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
. Each computer opponent has a different style of attack and a different reliability in honoring alliances.
Classic Risk
Classic style employs the standard rules of RiskRisk (game)
Risk is a strategic board game, produced by Parker Brothers . It was invented by French film director Albert Lamorisse and originally released in 1957 as La Conquête du Monde in France. Risk is a turn-based game for two to six players...
(depending on version, see below), which is one attack move at a time from one location. In this game type, you can attack as many times as you like, and may move through multiple territories with one army, although at least one unit has to be left in any territory you capture. You may also retreat from an attack and move units from one territory to another territory at the end of your attack turn, providing both territories are bordering.
Same Time Risk
After placing reinforcements and making your move, the map will show you your own and the enemies moves and where they will attack. Then you will fight every battle individually (unless AI are battling each other, in that case it is automatically resolved) until all moves have been played.
The Same Time concept requires dynamically different strategies from that of the Classic game. An attack from 2+ territories to a single enemy territory is called a 'Mass Invasion'. If two different teams attack a territory that fails to defend them, then a 'Spoils of War' battle ensues at the end of the turn between the two armies who fought for the territory in question. You can only move through one territory at a time when attacking, although one army is granted a 'Surge Attack', which can be used to thrust a designated amount of soldiers from a newly acquired territory into a neighboring one. If two armies meet when attacking, a 'Border Clash' battle occurs, which is the first to be resolved.
The dice are also different, and create a new strategy for using your soldiers. If you use 3 armies to attack (over 3 bordering territories), you will use 3 dice. If you use just 1 army, you will only use one die and so forth. Also, the greater the number of soldiers in the army, the different color of die you get. The darker the color, the more 'loaded' the die is. For example, if you have 30 or more soldiers then you receive a black die, which will usually roll 4-6's, whereas an army of 5 or less will use a white die, which rolls lower numbers more often. The other "loaded" ranks, from highest to lowest are: red, orange, yellow.
So, the ranks are, white, yellow, orange, red (dark), and a deep black.
Since the battle greatly favors the side that uses mass invasions (they get more dice), sitting back and defending is not a good idea. It is not uncommon for a two sided mass invasion to crash a defending army that is twice the invasion size. The player should try to mobilize all its border forces to attack whenever possible. This way the player can avoid the enemy mass invasions and fight some fair border clashes battle, damaging the enemy in the process. Most of the time the benefit of holding a continent border territory is not worth the risk of losings mass amount of soldiers from enemy mass invasions. And since the enemy is only allowed one surge attack per round the damage he can do to the player's inner territory is limited. In fact the enemy that surge attack deep into the player's territory risk having it crashed by the player's mass invasions in the next round, assuming the player can provide a reasonable resistance.
Tournament
Tournament employs both Classic and Same Time rules. There are 16 different rounds of ascending difficulty, and you are scored after every round. The aim is to gain as many points as possible. You gain points for completing your objective and bonus points for destroying any enemy factions. There is a scoreboard which is pre-filled with different players before play.Versions
Two versions of Risk II were developed: the U.S. version (v1.01u) and the European version (v1.01e). This was necessary because the board game rules actually differ slightly based on where the game is played. In the U.S. version, the "trade-on-the-fly rule," which forces a player to trade cards in the middle of a turn if he or she has more than the 5-card maximum, is in effect. In the European version, there is no "trade-on-the-fly". There is also a difference in the options a player has when rolling dice to defend a territory with two battalions. In the European version of Risk II a player may only roll one die while in the US version a player may choose to roll two dice or one die (to defend with either one or two battalions). The two versions of Risk II are however, completely compatible with each other when used in multi-player games online or across a network. Whichever version is installed by the host of the game is the version that will be used for each player. In the classic board game Risk, the U.S. version uses ascending card trade-in values (4 additional reinforcements, then 6,8,10,12,15,20,25,...), while the European version uses set card trade-in values (Infantry-4, Cavalry-6, Cannon-8, One of each-10). In Risk II, both versions have the option of using ascending or set trade-in values, and also an additional option of ascending by one (4,5,6...), which is a compromise between ascending and set.each one 10 point