Editing Risk (game) (section)

==Strategy==
[[File:Risk_game_graph.svg|thumb|250px|The Risk game board as a graph with intercontinental routes in grey and the asterisk denoting the route missing in the 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition]]

===Basic strategy===
The official rulebook recommends three basic strategy points for play under the standard rules:
# Players should control entire continents to get the bonus reinforcement armies.
# Players should watch their borders for buildups of armies that could imply an upcoming attack.
# Players should build up armies on their own borders for better defense.

Holding continents is the most common way to increase reinforcements. Players often attempt to gain control of Australia early in the game, since Australia is the only continent that can be successfully defended by heavily fortifying one country (either [[Thailand|Siam]] or [[Indonesia]]).<ref name="RiskStrategyHasbro">{{cite web |title=Risk – Strategy |url=http://www.hasbro.com/risk/default.cfm?page=strategy |work=Hasbro.com |access-date=2007-03-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070219173015/https://www.hasbro.com/risk/default.cfm?page=strategy |archive-date=2007-02-19 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Generally, continents with fewer access routes are easier to defend as they possess fewer territories that can be attacked by other players. [[South America]] has 2 access points, [[North America]] and [[Africa]] each have 3, [[Europe]] has 4, and [[Asia]] has 5.

Generally, it is thought advisable to hold ''Risk'' cards until they can be turned in for maximum reinforcements.<ref name="RiskStrategyHasbro" /> This is especially true earlier on in gameplay, because extra armies make a greater difference in the beginning of the game.<ref name="RiskStrategyHasbro" /> Eliminating a weak player who holds a large number of ''Risk'' cards is also a good strategy,<ref name="RiskStrategyHasbro" /> since players who eliminate their opponents get possession of their opponents' ''Risk'' cards. In this case, trading in ''Risk'' cards earlier may help acquire the necessary troops. If the conquering player has six<ref name="officialrules">{{cite web |url=http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/risk.pdf |title=Risk: The World Conquest Game |work=[[Hasbro]] |access-date=2015-05-24 |page=10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901093030/https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/risk.pdf |archive-date=September 1, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> or more ''Risk'' cards after taking the cards of another player, the cards must be immediately turned in for reinforcements until the player has fewer than five cards and then may continue attacking.

"Turtling" is a defensive strategy where a player who feels vulnerable tries to become too expensive to be removed while remaining a threat to harass other players. The objective of this strategy is to avoid early defeat. A player using this strategy might remain in the game all the way to later stages and then mount an attack on the weakest player and start a chain elimination to remove one player after another to win the game. The player who uses this strategy is called a "[[Turtle (gaming)|turtle]]". The term was popularised in [[real-time strategy]] games where a player creates a defensive perimeter or a ''turtle shell'' around the base of operations. Solutions to counteract this strategy using cooperation have been proposed.<ref>{{cite book |first=Ehsan |last=Honary |year=2007 |url=http://www.totaldiplomacy.com |title=Total Diplomacy: The Art of Winning Risk |publisher=Total Diplomacy |isbn=978-1-4196-6193-8 |access-date=2009-12-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091124142100/http://www.totaldiplomacy.com/ |archive-date=November 24, 2009 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Alliances===
The rules of ''Risk'' neither endorse nor prohibit [[Political alliance|alliances]] or [[truce]]s. Thus players often form  [[Gentlemen's agreement|unofficial treaties]] for various reasons, such as safeguarding themselves from attacks on one border while they concentrate their forces elsewhere, or eliminating a player who has grown too strong. Because these agreements are not enforceable by the rules, they are often broken. Alliance making/breaking can be one of the most important elements of the game, and it adds human interaction to a decidedly probabilistic game. Some players allow trading of ''Risk'' cards, but only during their turn. This optional rule can make alliances more powerful.

===Attack and defense===
Capturing a territory depends on the number of attacking and defending armies and the associated probabilities.  In a battle to completion, a player who has more armies (even just one more) has a significant advantage, whether on attack or defense (the number of attacking armies does not include the minimum one army that must be left behind in the territory).

Defenders always win ties when dice are rolled. This gives the defending player the advantage in "one-on-one" fights, but the attacker's ability to use more dice offsets this advantage.  It is always advantageous to roll the maximum number of dice, unless an attacker wishes to avoid moving men into a 'dead-end' territory, in which case they may choose to roll fewer than three.  Thus when rolling three dice against two, three against one, or two against one, the attacker has a slight advantage, otherwise the defender has an advantage.

There are online tools available to compute the outcome of whole campaigns (i.e. the attacking of several territories in a row).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://armsrace.plynd.com/probabilities|title=Risk campaign probabilities|access-date=2015-01-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208181409/http://armsrace.plynd.com/probabilities|archive-date=2015-02-08|url-status=dead}}</ref>

''[[RisiKo!]]'' is a variant of the game released in Italy, in which the defender is allowed to roll up to three dice to defend. This variation dramatically shifts the balance of power towards defense. 
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