by AMartin56
We've played about seven times now. For the most part with the same group of people. Factions are bid on like everything else....no one plays the same side each time.Our first three games had a different winner each time...the last four were won by the same player.
At first the game was really fun...everyone enjoyed founding cities and laying down scars. But lately all of that seems to have fallen by the wayside...adding a coin to a card after every game is boring and what the winner gets to do (I'm NOT the one on a winning streak...I won the second game) doesn't seem all that compelling either.
Last night we played games six and seven...and while it may just be group think both games played out almost exactly the same. For the most part at least. In the second game we tried to gang up on the player with the winning streak but individual desires snuck in and allowed him to win again. I suppose next time we could REALLY make sure he is destroyed before fighting over the ashes, but what's the fun in doing THAT for an hour and a half?
Without the joy of tearing up cards, applying stickers to the board and or writing on it multiple issues with the game are starting to crop up (IMO):
I don't like the opening bid process. A LOT seems to hinge on the single die roll that determines selection order. In the majority of our games the winner wins in turn two. And more often than not you see a situation where player one goes on his push...fails....player two succeeds and wins...and player three points out they could have done the same if game wasn't over prior to their turn. I like certain aspects of the design that shorten the game (since dice filled luck fests can overstay their welcome) but something longer than two turns would be more satisfying. I also think the opening bidding would work better if the order was reveresed in rounds 2 and 4. This would somewhat mitigate the problem with picking last.
I HATE events. We always play with five, and event cards come out way too fast IMO. Multiple times the same player (with the most population) has benefited from event cards back to back with little to no chance of it getting around to me so I can change the on board situation. It's frustrating to see a single player luck into 10+ armies out of the blue. I almost wonder if we're doing something wrong. That's a huge advantage when it would typically take a large investment in coins to get such a force on the board.
I see missiles becoming a problem if the winning streak continues (and they probably already ARE to tell you the truth). Having four missiles when no one else has more than one is a huge advantage and any unequal distribution of a luck mitigating mechanic in a game with such a huge amount of luck is a problem IMO. And yes I know basic Risk isn't chess. It seems like this could be fixed slightly if you could only use your own missiles in your own battles. In the second game last night I grabbed first player...established a power base in the first turn for a push on turn two...then missed capturing my last HQ (for the 4th victory point) due to the uninvolved winning streak player targeting me with missiles to extend the game.
All of the above MIGHT be okay if we were still modifying the board. But it's a painful slog when you aren't. I'm almost to the point where I think it would be better for us all to roll a bunch of dice...count the sixes and then declare a winner. And I LIKE the original Risk for what it is.