Classic Map

Info about the map:

**Map size: Medium** (decent, same as Classic Frozen in info, but free)

**- Popular among all players in Risk, all the way from board game lovers to digital enthusiastics. You can never go wrong with this map!**

#### **Trivia**

**- Risk was invented in 1957 by Albert Lamorisse, a French filmmaker and it became one of the most popular board games in history, inspiring other popular games such as *Axis & Allies* and *Settlers of Catan*.**

**- This was the first Risk map and comes from the original board game designed in 1957.**

**- The standard version is played on depicting political map of the world, divided into 42 territories, which are grouped into six continents.**

**- The simple rules, but complex interactions make it appealing to adults as well as children and families.**

**- It is still in production by Hasbro with numerous editions and variants with popular media themes and different rules including PC software versions, video games and mobile apps.**

#### **Continents info**

1. **Australia**: The continent which most people go for early in the game. It has an excellent defensive position, as it shares only one border with Asia. Offensively there is not that much potential, though, because neighboring Asia is the hardest continent to hold. Australia gives 2 bonus troops per turn. Therefore it has a bonus-borders ratio of 2, higher than all other continents. The Australian turtle strategy is usually used.
2. **South America:** South America is also a continent people usually go for. It has 2 borders and gives 2 extra troops per turn, so the bonus-borders ratio is 1. However, South America has great expansion options, bordering North America and Africa. Many players get one of these continents in addition to South America.
3. **Africa:** Africa is a slightly less common choice. It has a continental bonus of 3 troops, which is balanced out by its 3 borders. The bonus-borders ratio is 1 once again. Africa borders Europe, South America and Asia. Africa + Europe/South America are both powerful combinations.
4. **Europe**: Europe is one of the hardest continents to hold, but it pays off with a 5-troop continental bonus. It has 4 borders, setting the bonus-border ratio at 1.25. Europe has great expansion potential in North America and Africa. Due to the large number of borders which have to be guarded, many people use the European turtle strategy.
5. **North America:** North America is arguably the best continent. It gives the player 5 extra troops per turn and has just 3 borders. The bonus-border ratio is 1.66, the highest of all other continents, apart from Australia. Furthermore, the North American player can easily expand to South America and/or Europe. With Asia being usually fragmented, the North American player has also the ability to attack territories there (i.e. Kamchatka, Irkutsk, Yakutsk) to get a a card.
6. **Asia:** Undoubtedly the hardest continent to hold. Asia has even 5 borders and gives 7 extra troops every turn. Other players will usually break into Asia to prevent you from getting the bonus. It is not advised to go for Asia early in the game.

### **Common Strategies**

#### **Turtle Strategies**

**1.) Australian turtle strategy**: The Australian Turtle strategy involves the player to build an army in Siam. It is the most common turtle strategy.

**2.) South American turtle strategy**: The South American turtle builds up a big army in Peru.

**3.) European turtle strategy**: This strategy involves building one large army in Northern Europe. To defend the North American border you can additionally build a second army in either Scandinavia or Great Britain.

**4.) African turtle strategy**: In this strategy the African player builds up one big army in either Northern Africa, Egypt or Eastern Africa, although the latter is not as commonly used.

**5.) North American turtle strategy**: This strategy involves building 2 armies, one in Northwest Territories and one in either Eastern or Western United States.

**6.)** **Asian turtle strategy**: This strategy is not used as other players will always attack the Asian turtle. The Asian player builds up 3 armies in India, China and Mongolia.

#### **1v1 Strategies**

* **World Domination Mode**: In general, for this particular mode (with Manual setup), it depends what turn order you are gonna play. If you play going 1st, you will need to connect your territories as much as possible and not get yourself blocked while doing it. This will guarantee that you take a large amount of territories, if you attack with your whole army stack or split troops into different patterns of those connected territories, to potencialy even try to take Continent/Continents for yourself and win the game. If you play going 2nd though, you will need to split your territories at least 1 tile away from each other, so that your opponent doesn't take much on his turn, which can potentially force the 1st player to try and guess your stack placement and then get a good dice roll in order to pull the advantage and win the game for himself or to just try and take as much territories as possible and hide his stack from you. If your opponent fails to do one of those 2 scenarios though, you will have a large advantage over him, since you would just need to take out his stack (or other form of split troops) and then take as much territories as possible (and also Continent/Continents if you can) to win the game.

* **Capital Conquest Mode**: In 1v1 battles, the territory you should place your capital on is Northern Africa. It prevents the opponent from getting Africa, acts as a strong border for South America, and can expand into Europe and Asia. If the opponent has already taken it, the best alternative is Middle East, but there are other good options as well, such as Egypt and Brazil. Specifically for North Africa, it is important to connect up your opponent in the Americas, which is possible by taking Quebec, Western United States and Alberta. Avoid taking many territories in Europe, as you may block your capital from accessing other continents. In Africa it is important to not take Egypt and Eastern Africa, as you will get blocked from accessing Asia. For more information you can watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qCDI30zN9E and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gElqdd58tb8.

* **Zombie Apocalypse Mode:** Since zombies attack territories in a pattern, it is possible to avoid their attacks by putting your army in one of the zombie hideouts. The best one is Egypt, considering it is in the middle of the map. Other choices are Northern Europe, Great Britain, Afghanistan, Irkutsk, Ontario and Western/Eastern United States. It is usually not worth to take over South America if the zombies are nearby, as they will probably invade the continent. To defend from the zombies' deployment you need to have a few more troops than the zombies in the territory.

#### **Other Strategies**

**Asian Stronghold:** This is a strategy for the Australian player to conquer Asia. The Australian player starts expanding in Asia and building up a few smaller armies. When he sees an opportunity he can capture Asia and the territory of Ukraine and put 3 large armies on Middle East, Ukraine and Kamchatka. This means that they only have 3 borders to guard, and if they manage to hold these territories they will get 14 troops every turn.

**Four Continents Endgame Strategy:** This strategy applies primarily in fixed card games, in situations when a player has more troops than all of the others combined. The dominating player captures Europe, North America, South America and Africa, as well as the territory of Middle East and optionally Kamchatka. If the opponent does not manage to invade, the dominating player will receive 24 troops and win easily.

**Territories for Progressive Cards:** One of the best territories to build up a big army on in progressive cards is Middle East, as it has access to Europe and Africa. In North America, the best territory is Ontario, as it borders more territories than any other in that continent. Another great place for your big army is either Siam or Indonesia, as you can use it to trap other players' armies in Australia. This means that they will be much harder to be taken out by players who do not have territories in Australia, as they would have to crush your big army in order to take the player out. On the contrary, you have access to their territories, so it is still easy for you to take them out.

### **AI Paths - Info**

#### **Zombie Paths**

* For Asia, zombies can enter from Ukraine into Ural, hitting Siberia, Yakutsk, Kamchatka, Japan, Mongolia, China and Siam and circling Irkutsk.
* Zombies enter Africa via Northern Africa, and attack every territory in the continent except Egypt. Then they exit via Eastern Africa, or vice versa.
* South America is the least safe continent, as it is usually invaded by the zombies. They will attack every territory going from Brazil to Central America, or vice versa.