Risk 2210 - Sometimes it pays to be crazy!

The photo on the right is of the board at the point when every other player decided to concede and admit defeat - and this time I was the winner! Is it geeky to take a photo? Is it "rubbing it in"? The answer's a "maybe yes" on both counts, but let me explain why it's super-sweet.

I don't usually win when I play Risk 2210. The last two times we've played, my daughter has won both times, with an improbable "rule Asia" strategy combined with a possible "be nice to the child" unconscious inclination by the other players. I know my Risk strategy weaknesses and so do the other players, especially since we play semi-regularly with each other. I over-stretch. I want to control continents so I will sometimes spread myself too thin over a wide area. There are times where I should be more conservative and not bother attacking but I can't resist trying to oust a rival army out of my territory. I am also tricked by the other players when they talk. I can be goaded into attacking someone even when it's not crucial to my standing in the match. Even in tonight's game, the men teased about me playing my "cease fire" diplomat card and, just to be contrary, I chose not to play it that round, and I ended up having my diplomat and my land commander defeated. It turned out that it was useful for me to save it for the next round. I won't give you a play-by-play of the game, but in the end I controlled Australia, Europe, most of the sea colonies, and the moon. (I'm the black pieces.) My husband (green pieces) had a good hold on South America and most of Africa, and our family friend (red pieces) was ready to take over North America (after a bloody battle with my daughter [blue pieces]) but I was collecting too many mods and too many energy credits per turn for them to make a serious dent. The turning point of the game was when I (typically but crazily) stretched myself thin and took Europe (nearly impossible to hold) when I was the fourth player in round two and then won the bid for playing first in round three, allowing me to gain all the extra armies and cash for holding Europe, even briefly. This is why I love Risk. It's a great mix of random luck and planned strategy and even if you do things "wrong", you have a chance of winning. Yeah me!