Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone. As part of our Thanksgiving tradition with the Jones family (my wife's side, that is), there is a game of Risk that is played. After winning the first year I attended, I certainly had a big target on my back the following year. Thankfully, I was able to repeat my victory and assert myself as a dominant Risk player.
That is in the past however, as my brother-in-law Scott won last year, and there is yet another new champion this year, and it all came down to one roll of the dice.
You see, after establishing myself in Europe quickly, I found myself the target of the more powerful players based in Asia and N. America. Having lost Ukraine in a big battle, I was weak and without my +5 bonus. Also, the four cards I was holding in my hand were totally worthless. My only chance was to take out a weaker player in Africa, get his cards and then turn in twice, for a much-needed infusion of some 45 armies. I had him pinned down to Madagascar with but one army left. Sadly, my campaign had not gone as well as I would have hoped, and I was left with only one army with which to attack. According to my brief calculations, that meant I had only a 5/12** chance of taking him down, but it was my only hope.
By surviving that roll of the dice, my cousin Ryan was able to breathe for a little while. The next player then attempted to take me down, but a stand in Iceland prevented my demise. With but one army, then, Ryan turned in his cards, advanced to my position with his new strength, and in an ironic twist took me out, took my cards, cashed in for more armies to reinforce his position, and eventually go on to win the game.
I've never seen a player come back from so little. Congrats, Ryan!
**6x6 possible combinations of two dice being rolled. In a normal situation, you'd have 6 ties and 15 possibilities of victory for each side, 6+15+15=36. Since ties go to the defender, though, those six are added to his 15, giving 21 to the defender and only 15 to the attacker. Thus, the odds of me, the attacker winning are 15/36 or 5/12.
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