RISK BOARD RULES

 There are many different riskversions and rules. On this page you can check the rules you want to use and then simply print it out to use it at home or at your championships. Some of the settings can conflict so be careful what you choose ! The ones that are checked by default are the rules i use at home. If you want to have things changed or added just use the mailform on the left.
THE BOARD
 The connection middle-east to east africa:
does exist [newer versions]
does not exist [older versions]
WINNER
 Way to win :
domination so capture all 42 territories on the map [old US rules]
mission (if checked mission part applies) [old and new UK rules]
capitals [new US rules] (each player chooses one of his territories to be his capital. The choices are revealed simultaneously. The objective is to capture all (or some number of) capitals. If you lose your capital, you are not out of the game. (But you aren't doing very well!) )
MISSION
 When are the missions delt ?
After colors are chosen and before territory cards are delt [new US rules]
After territory cards are delt
After territory cards are delt and all have placed all armies

The leftover missions:
can be viewed by any player [older rules leave it open]
are not revealed and hidden [newer rules]

If a player gets eliminated
his mission is revealed [older rules leave it open]
his mission is not revealed and must remain secret [newer rules]

The following missions are being used:
Conquer Asia and South America
Conquer Asia and Africa
Conquer North America and Africa
Conquer North America and Australa
Conquer Europe and South America and a 3rd continent of your choice
Conquer Europe and Australasia and a 3rd continent of your choice
Occupy 18 territories with at least 2 armies in each territory
Occupy 24 territories (no restriction to 2 or more armies in each)
kill black
kill purple
kill red
kill yellow
kill blue
kill green

1. If fewer than 6 colours are going to be used in the game then the cards corresponding to the unused colours are removed from the deck before missions are given out.

If you draw your own colour
then your mission changes to conquer 24 territories [standard]
All mission cards are delt again [DESDA]

if someone else kills the colour you should be killing according to your mission:
your mission changes to 'conquer 24 territories' [old and new UK rules]
you have won, the other player helped you out. [new US rules]

You can only win:
At the beginning of your go
At the end of your go [new UK rules]
a full turn after revealing your mission and maintaining its conditions in the interim
At any point, you don't have to be in your go, someone solves your problem!
TERRITORIES
 the territories are divided among the players:
by shuffling the cards and giving each player in turn a card (with 4 or 5 players 2 players get an extra card) (be sure to exclude the jokers)
letting each player in turn choose 1 territory not owned by another player in turn
ARMIES AND PLACEMENT
 The amount of players decides the amount of armies each player gets:
[2 players:40][3 players:35][4 players:30][5 players:25][6 players:20] [ALL newer and older rules except 1959 US rules]
every player gets 1 army/territory [1959 US rules]

On FIRST placement:
there is a maximum of 4 armies on 1 territory to place [old UK rules]
there is no maximum on how many armies to place in one territory [newer UK and US rules]

There is always a minimum of 1 army per territory
Armies are placed:
by each player until all say they are done (no special rules) [old rules leave it open]
in turn, each player may put 1 army on 1 territory that he owns, until all armies are placed [many old and new rules]
in turn, each player may put 1 army on 1 territory that he owns, until all armies are placed but the empty territories must be filled first [many old and new rules]

TURNS
 The turns in a game are :
Defend phase and then Attack phase [new UK and and all US rules]
Attack phases and then Defend phases (all players first do an attack round and then a defend round) [houserule]
Defend phase OR Attack phase [old UK and Dutch rules] (this makes owing continents much more important)
DEFEND PHASE
 You get armies in the following ways:
The total amount of your territories divided by 3, with a minimum of 3 and rounded down (14=4) [all versions]
Cashed in cards (see below)
If you own South America an extra 2
If you own North America an extra 5
If you own Europe an extra 5
If you own Africa an extra 3
If you own Asia an extra 7
If you own Australia an extra 2

Where should the armies that you get from owning a continent be placed ?
anywhere you like [not stated in rules]
in the continent you got the armies from [houserule]
ATTACK PHASE
 You must say from which country you attack and which country you are attacking.
The attacker can attack with the amount of dice that is equal or less than the amount of armies in the attacking country minus 1.
The defender can defend with the amount of dice that is equal or less than the amount of armies in the defending country.

the attacker:
when using 3 dices the attacker doesn't have to state anything and after he won he has to move a minimum of 3
when using 3 dices the attacker has to say the amount of armies he is attacking with and he has to move this amount of armies after he won

the defender:
Has to say before the battle with how many dices he will defend as well as the attacker [US and new UK rules]
Has to use 2 dices except when he has only one army left
Has to use 1 dice if he owns less than 3 armies in the defending territory [New Zealand and U.K. rules circa 1990]
Can choose AFTER the attacker threw his dices if he wants to defend with 1 or 2 dice(s) [old UK rules]

The dices of both attacker and defender are ranked according to value and are compared for each rank.
If, in one rank comparison, the dices are the same, the defender wins in this rank.
If there are ranks comparisons where there is only 1 dice the rank isn't counted
The defender and attacker loose the amount of armies equal to the rank comparisons they lost
REDEPLOYMENT
 There is no redeployment
After your turn you may transport 7 armies across your own territories, each border-crossing is 1 transportation, the territories should be connected, provided that after all such movement there is at least one army per territory
After your turn you may move armies from 1 country to another country , provided that after all such movement there is at least one army per territory
ONLY after an attack phase you may transport 7 armies across your own territories, each border-crossing is 1 transportation, the territories should be connected, provided that after all such movement there is at least one army per territory [old UK rules]
ONLY after an attack phase you may move armies from 1 country to another country, provided that after all such movement there is at least one army per territory
After you turn you may move an unlimited amount of armies across your own connected territories, provided that after all such movement there is at least one army per territory [US and new UK rules]
Only after an attack you may move an unlimited amount of armies across your own connected territories, provided that after all such movement there is at least one army per territory
After you turn you may move a group of 7 (or another predefined limited number of armies) through an unlimited number of connected, controlled territories , provided that after all such movement there is at least one army per territory [houserule]
Only after an attack you may move a group of 7 (or another predefined limited number of armies) through an unlimited number of connected, controlled territories , provided that after all such movement there is at least one army per territory [houserule]
After your turn each single army is allowed to move to an adjacent controlled territory, provided that after all such movement there is at least one army per territory [houserule]
After an attack each single army is allowed to move to an adjacent controlled territory, provided that after all such movement there is at least one army per territory [houserule]
TAKE A CARD
 You may take 1 card if you have conquered a country, only one card per turn.
CASHING IN ARMIES
 You HAVE to turn in cards if you have more than 5 cards so u can defend with 5 cards

When:
You must turn in at the beginning of your turn but you have to attack
You must turn in at the beginning of your turn but you don't have to attack
You must turn in at the end of your turn
You may either turn in at the beginning or at the end of your turn
You may turn in at any point during your turn but you have to attack and all should be placed at once
You may turn in at any point during your turn but you have to attack and the gained armies can be placed gradually during your turn
You may turn in at any point during your turn but you don't have to attack but all should be placed at once
You may turn in at any point during your turn but you don't have to attack and the gained armies can be placed gradually during your turn
Note: the last two options leave it open to attack or not attack, in case of not attacking obviously all are placed at once

If you trade in a card with a country on it you own:
nothing happens
you get an extra 2 armies which u may place anywhere with a maximum of 2 gained by this mechanism
you get an extra 2 armies which u may place anywhere with no maximum gained by this mechanism
you get an extra 2 armies which u must place in that territory with a maximum of 2 gained by this mechanism [1980 US rules]
you get an extra 2 armies which u must place in that territory with no maximum gained by this mechanism
VALUES
 The card-combinations have the following values:
[3*art.=4][3*inf.=6][3*cav.=8][3 diff. ones=10] (a joker can be used as art,inf or cav-card) [standard scheme]
[3*art.=6][3*inf.=9][3*cav.=12][3 diff. ones=15] (a joker can be used as art,inf or cav-card) [DESDA scheme]
first set 4, second set 6, third set 8, fourth set 10 , fifth set 12, sixth set 15, seventh set 20, eight set 25, and so on with each time and extra 5 [increasing, UK and US rules] (makes card-sets very important)
first set 4, second 5, and then each time 1 more [1980 US rules and new US rules suggestion]
the sets pay 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, but then the payoffs decrease again: 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 6, 8, etc. [houserule]
the sets pay 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20 but after 20 the next payoff is 4, then 6, 8, etc. [houserules] (This can make it more important to be able to cash in sets of cards at the right time)
PLAYER KILLED
 If player A kills player B:
nothing happens, the cards from player B get on the bottom of the stack [older rules]
player A gets all cards from player B and player A has to wait until the next turn to cash in all combinations[new UK rules] (so when a player has weakened himself by killing another he can be killed in turn)
player A gets all cards from player B and if player A owns more than 6 cards he has to turn in combinations until he has 4 or less [US rules after 1970] (this opens a lot of loopholes, see RISK-FAQ)
player A gets all cards from player B and if player A owns more than 5 cards he has to turn in combinations until he has 4 or fewer [most US editions]
player A gets all cards from player B and can now trade in anything he wants
player A gets all cards from player B but has to wait for the next turns to cash in, he may only cash in 1 set per turn. After he has dropped to less than 5 the normal conditions are valid again. [DESDA]
SPECIAL
 Some extra rules are:
If an attacker holds the card that shows the territory that is attack from or being attacked he may re-roll any one die on each battle involving that territory. The card is not used up and goes back into the player's hand. You cannot use more than one card per battle, but may use more than one card during a single turn. Again, this is only for the attacker, not the defender. [1980 US variation]
You may donate cards to other players
You may trade cards with other players
You may throw cards away
Only 12 armies per territory are allowed. If during placement you are unable to place some armies, then you lose them [1980 US variation]
Use the influence of commanders, or great generals being at a particular battle. Once per turn, each player may change one of the dice he rolled to a six. Thus a roll of 1, 2, and 3 may become a roll of 6, 2, and 3. The rules are clear in stating that this may only be performed by an attacking army [1980 US variation]
When there are no armies left in your box you HAVE to attack [DESDA]
When u have attacked and u receive a sixth card you must put that card back on the bottom of the stack [DESDA]
When u have attacked, receive a sixth card (or more) and that is put between your cards, u must put ALL your cards back on the bottom of the stack [DESDA]
the cards you have saved MUST be visible for ALL players [DESDA]
You have to throw again all YOUR dices if a dice drops on the floor [DESDA]
You have to throw again all YOUR dices if a dice lies not in such a postition that the value is obvious (e.g. against the playboard) [DESDA]
You have to throw again all YOUR dices when you throw more dices than is permitted [DESDA]