Risk, the Armstrong way

Risk is the game of world domination. World Domination! So of course, who wouldn't want to play this game. A couple weeks ago, before my nephew Cam moved to Prague, I took it upon myself to teach him how to play Risk. It soon became apparent that he indeed was his father's son. Cam, son of Brian, world dominator.

Brian and I have been playing Risk for quite some time. Whenever we start a game, it usually means that we have convinced someone else to play with us. This person, or persons, is basically a target. Neither Brian nor I really care too much about winning, but we do care about making alliances to beat the other player, and then stabbing each other in the back. The goal is simple: ruin the other player's plan by breaking the front line and conquering as many territories as deep into enemy territory as you can. This effectively undoes many turns of patient battling. It is a delicate science to know exactly when to make your move. More often than not, breaking alliances is usually what causes the innocent third party to end up winning.

I tend to make my move when I have built up sufficient armies in a single territory to break through. Brian will make his move almost without fail when either he senses he is about to lose, or he gets tired of playing and then starts attacking for a final turn of frustrating all my plans. Cam is just like Brian. It was nearing bedtime, and he had agreed with his mother upon one more turn. In his last turn, he did what Brian would do, attack anywhere and everywhere he could. And, being the good uncle, I convinced him to attack his aunt Jessica, rather than try to defeat my superior armies. I have a picture and a video to illustrate how our evening ended.

We do miss Brian, Q, Cam, Jess, and Rebecca.