An aspect of playing online Risk that has made it so popular over the years is its realism. It mimics actual geopolitical maneuverings in the diplomatic world. The strategies in online Risk rely on fundamental ideas around human relations and the national use of force.
Balance of Power: The prime strategic consideration in online Risk is the idea that if a player at any point holds more than half the armies in the world or the potential to get them, he can swiftly overcome all his online opponents. For this reason it behooves weaker players to ban together to keep down, if not necessarily destroy, this power. Thus a player who manages to conquer both North and South America generally will be able to sweep the board of his online opponents if he is not attacked immediately by all the other players with all the power at their disposal. He should concentrate on one enemy at a time, if possible. For every enemy eliminated is at least three less armies he must confront every turn.
The weaker players, then, should form informal alliances. "Divide and Conquer" should be the strong player's motto, while the weaker players should be thinking, "United we stand, divided we fall." Of course, the weaker players only ban together until the great power is humbled and a new great power rises up from their ranks. This means that each player must constantly balance his relations with the other players. There are no restrictions in the rules about advising other players and such diplomacy should be an integral part of the game. In fact, getting another player to act in your interest should be a primary objective of every player.
Power Bases: A consolidated continent can be thought of as a power base. Possession of even a small continent can almost double the number of armies per turn. It is then important to protect this base and expand from there. Many players like to gain possession of Australia early in the game. Even though it is small, it is easily defended because it has only one entrance. Its disadvantage is that it is far away from other possible conquests. Asia is seldom completely conquered and held early in the game. It is simply too vast with too many points to defend. Since possession of an entire continent augments a players power, it is important to prevent other players from doing so whenever efficiently possible. This does not mean you should spread your armies in an effort to block every online opponent's conquests. However, weakly defended continents that can be easily broken up, generally should be attacked at their weakest point to prevent the online opponent from collecting armies from its possession the next turn.
In attacking a power base a player should consider his objectives. Is he trying to break the continent? or does he want to take the entire continent? The definition of the objective will largely be dependent upon the number of armies available for attack. To completely conquer a continent and consolidate it in one turn it is generally necessary to have at least twice the number of troops as the enemy has in the entire continent (plus a few to occupy the conquered hinterlands). A continent may be conquered with equal or even fewer forces, but this usually does not succeed or if it is successful leaves the continent open to reconquest or the machinations of a third player. With fewer forces, a continent may be broken - with a roughly equal force to the local armies at the point of attack. If possible, superior numbers should be used because these can be moved onto the conquered country and inhibit reconquest by the enemy.
Army Placement: Strategic placement of armies is vital. The rules often remind players to move armies to the front. This is good advice, but it is best to know where the front is. It is not necessarily where the enemy's power is built up. In fact, it is often wise to avoid great masses of armies. For example, an enemy built up in Europe has 4 border countries to defend. He might build up heavily in the Ukraine, Iceland and Western Europe, but often Southern Europe will be left weaker. In an attack from Asia it would be best to concentrate forces in Middle East and launch into this weak spot. Even though you might also hold Ural and Afghanistan if you do not hold the rest of Asia it would be best not to place any armies in them even though they directly online oppose your immediate object of breaking up Europe. In placing armies the idea of "concentration of force" is paramount. You will be tempted to spread armies all over the place, and sometimes this will be necessary, but generally it is best to concentrate power on one objective at a time.
Offense/Defense: Balancing offense and defense is not always easy. It is a maxim in military circles that a good offense is the best defense. But when you play online Risk, as in the real world this is not always the case. When the battle rages between two players one should put every ounce of power in the offense, but when several players are involved, the political element changes this dynamic. Under these conditions it is best to attack when expansion can be consolidated even in the face of online opposition. Meanwhile a player should attempt to leave enough force covering his power base (not necessarily directly on the borders of a continent - for example South America can be defended from North Africa and Central America) to deter an attacker who must also be worried about what the several other players will do to him should he become too weak because he spent too many armies attacking you.
Armies can simultaneously perform both an offensive and defensive roll. For example a player controlling North America might attack from Alaska to Kamchatka and place all of his armies in Kamchatka. The border has been expanded and the bulk of armies still protect the power base of North America. There would be little sense in leaving more than one army behind in Alaska except for "political" reasons. (For example the object of the attack into Asia may simply have been to get a card and the number of other troops rampaging about the continent make certain that Kamchatka will be attacked even with a large number of troops situated there, while the same players might think twice about crossing the Berring Strait if North America plays no immediate part in their grand strategy.)
All these strategies assume perfect conditions and the availability of many armies. In the game of online Risk, until the balance of power becomes terribly skewed, there never seems to be enough armies to accomplish your objective. Thus, you often have to rely on luck. Napoleon famously said that he would rather have a lucky general than a good one. Then if you must take risks, take calculated risks. Consider what might be gained by a particular attack or for that matter not attacking at all for a turn. Don't squander your forces in hopeless adventures. Bide your time, collect your cards and attack when the conditions are right. Remember, "suicide missions" are a sign of an undisciplined player. You never know what will happen in the next round of play. Luck, card armies and the actions of other players could suddenly catapult you into a powerful position.
Online Risk - Variations
There are many variations when playing Risk online. Families create their own house rules to conform with personalities and time available. Variations can emphasize certain qualities and rectify certain imbalances in play.
Random Set Up: Perhaps the most popular variation involves the initial setup. Instead of choosing countries, the players are dealt out the country cards (minus the mission cards). They are required to put one army in each, then they must distribute their armies to the remaining countries. This has the effect of speeding setup. It creates a situation where for the first two or three turns players have to work hard to consolidate their empires, having to conquer broad tracts where they might otherwise have not. It can also create a situation where one player is dealt an entire continent (a great advantage) while the remaining players must do the best they can with fragmented territories.
No Cards: The earliest rules of online risk made no use of cards. Thus, there are no card armies. This makes strategy and diplomacy even more important. But it also doubles and even tripples the length of the game because there is a tendency for players to continually form alliances to face the player with the greatest force. Thus, with the balance of power constantly being enforced by the players it is more difficult for a single player to overwhelm the rest.
Card Army Progression: There are actually several popular modification to the card rules. One slows down the increase in the number of armies awarded to players turning in cards. For example each player turn-in might increase at its own rate. Another modification allows for no progression at all. Players receive a number of armies based on the content of his turned-in cards (4 for a set of all infantry, 6 for all cavaly, 8 for all artillery, and 10 for all different). These rules have a similar effect to having no cards at all. Only it does equalize the forces somewhat as card armies lessen (if only slightly) the significance of holding continents.
Dice Roll Modifications: The Italians moved the balance of power toward defense when they allowed the defense an additional die. Another rule modification that favors the defense has the offense roll first and the defense then rolling choosing the number of dice he wishes to roll (minimum one). For example, if the offense rolls two sixes and a five, the defense might choose to roll only one dice to minimize the possibility of loss. On the other hand should the offense roll three ones the defense would choose to roll two dice for automatic kills. While these rules do favor defense, and do slow down the game slightly, they do not appreciably affect tactics or strategy.
Reserves: In this modification players may set aside some of their armies in a reserve pool. Simply turn over the lid of each box of miniatures so that it lies where everyone can see it. When a player receives armies at the begining of his turn he may place one or more armies in his reserve. At the beginning of any subsequent turn he can access as many of these as he wishes - to be placed with any other armies he receives that turn. A modification of this variation even allows the player to place reserves in a country that is attacked. (However, in this case only one army could be placed in reserve per turn).
Official Rule Book Variations: There are several variations in the rule book provided with the game. They include limiting the number of armies allowed in a single territory, the use of commanders to modify dice rolls and giving an advantage for attacking from a territory that the player possesses the card for. Most of these do not appreciably affect strategy or the overall outcome of games.
Online Risk - Conclusions
Playing online Risk can be an immensely enjoyable pastime. Children and adults can spend hours in the glorious splendor of their imaginary empires. But to be a good emperor and to truly enjoy the game, players must put into practice sound military and diplomatic principles.
The key to winning is fairly simple and goes along the lines of a famous ungrammatical and pithy quote from the Civil War General, Nathan Bedford Forrest, "Get there firstest with the mostest" (with emphasis on mostest). The main idea is to overwhelm your enemy with power, but the means of doing this are as varied as the players who love the game. It can be done with diplomacy or it can be done with brute force.
Up to this point I have avoided discussing specific geographical regions except in examples. However, the planet Earth is a big factor in the game and in line with the idea of power bases and choosing a scheme for choosing countries in the beginning of the game it is well to consider each continent.
Australia: Quick to conquer, easy to defend it is likely to be one of the continents competed for early in the game. It is a fairly secure base to meddle in the affairs of other players. Yet, to compete for it in a five or six player game with two or three other players could result in quick defeat and annihilation. A few dice rolls could make the difference as to who wins and who loses as at this stage in the game the number of armies competing will be relatively equal. This does not mean that you should not stake a claim on Australia. In fact, it might be a good location to place your first country pick. This way when armies are being distributed you might find that you can place enough armies here to virtually guarantee its conquest.
South America: With only four countries, this continent is normally easy to capture. However, it tends to be difficult to hold as it is south of the powerhouse that is North America and west of the continent of Africa. Even so, it is somewhat out of the way, with two entrances. If it can be captured early with few losses it can be a staging area to invade the bigger continents. Once a player chooses to use South America as a base of operations it is absolutely imperative to prevent any other player from dominating North America because the logical place for North America to launch an invasion is South America. The 8 to 5 imbalance of armies per turn will likely prove to be decisive for the North American forces. Africa is not as much of a worry for South America. Any player conquering Africa will likely have too many other worries to arbitrarily invade South America (but it is wise to keep this front covered with adequate troops).
Africa: This is a fun continent to conquer. Yet, it can be difficult to hold. North Africa forms part of a natural invasion route that runs from Middle East, through Southern Europe and North Africa and ends up in Brazil. This is a common attack route for Australian or Asian forces working to break up continents. Although there are three countries to defend (and the three armies per turn help to offset this need) these countries front on three different continents. For this reason, once conquered, Africa tends to go on the defensive building up across the northern tier of countries and expanding only slowly, first by conquering the Middle East, then Southern Europe, etcetera. Even so, Africa is subject to general threats. Because of its more defensive location Africa often builds up forces that allow it to launch great assaults when other players least expect it. Often the meddling Australians can be surprised by a march through the Middle East, India, Siam and into Indonesia.
North America: North America is quite a prize. Once secure it brings in 5 extra armies a turn and it has only three border countries. It is difficult to dislodge a player from North America once he has established himself. However, the border countries are all fairly distant from one another. Thus, if the continent gets broken, it is a couple turn ordeal final moving and raising armies to retake the continent. As was noted above, the most logical route of advancement is to South America where most online opponents can be overwhelmed in a war of attrition. However, a player can also move into Europe or Asia quite easily. The chief danger early on to North America comes from the player in South America who is likely to work very hard to prevent anyone other than himself from controlling the area.
Europe: Europe is often relatively easy to take. Its central location makes it a march route for armies traversing the board. With so many armies passing through, players are loathe to leaving any but the barest garrisons behind. But a quick gathering of forces can conquer it. Permanently securing it can be another problem. There are 4 border countries and these can be attacked by 7 surrounding countries. The player conquering Europe is generally an online opportunist. He has to be politically astute and constantly maintaining the balance of power around him until the moment is right. The extra five armies per turn generally get distributed around the borders. The southern and eastern countries are all mutual supporting and when sufficient force is built up an invasion can be launched to the south. No continent (other than Australia) is more than two conquered countries away.
Asia: An Asian strategy early on is almost always a mistake. The huge prize of 7 extra armies a turn is simply too great for other players to allow you to hold it, and holding it is a real problem. A player bottled up in Australia has only one outlet, and that is through Siam. Africa can generally easily take Middle East and hold it against concentrated attacks (as long as the African player is not getting too much pressure from elsewhere). Both Europe and America will be jealous of the large haul in armies and surely attack at the first online opportunity. Asia often turns into a card harvesting ground. In other words it often has few armies occupying countries and it is an easy place to take a country when only a card is wanted, because this allows a player to be less threatening in the process.
When deciding on a strategy at the beginning of the game, settle on a continent to take. Your army placements should augment your goal. Keep your armies and your countries as grouped together as possible.
Diplomacy: Having said all the above, it is well to note that if your tactics and strategy are sound you will do well. Yet, in a game of highly experienced players, the decisive factor will likely be diplomacy. As this is a highly personal aspect of the game, it is difficult to give advice on how best to make use of it. Suffice it to say that you should always try to maintain the best relations with every player, even when that player is under the most vigorous assault by your armies. Remember, the enemy this turn, might be a vital ally on the next. In your dealings with other players be certain not to be duplicitous. Never, ever lie. You want them to trust you when you tell them something. Make them see that their own best interest lies in what you want them to do. If you lie, they likely will not trust you again, even in future games.
A Final Word: For a game with such simple rules, when you play online Risk it can be an intricate, even beautiful game. It is fun, intense and requires skills that will also benefit the player in the real world. A novice may not be able to implement all the suggestions made on this site and may even find that they do not fit their own playing style. Thus, keeping the advice set down here in mind, the best way to learn the game is, like everything else, through experience. So play, play, play....