Saturday, October 4, 2008

Game Tips: Risk 2210AD Majors Add-On

Shortly after Risk 2210 AD was released, these 5 extra cards were given away at a Convention to promote the game. Each card pays tribute to one of the creators of the game with a portrait, but I could not honestly say who is who. If anyone knows, please fill me in. These cards are beyond impossible to get your hands on now, so if you'd like to add them into your games you'll have to fudge it a bit. The easiest way is to use the blanks that came in the box. If you've already used them or lost them then the best solution I can offer is to make a brand new set of command decks, including these (and any other custom cards you may have made). I will go in to detail on how to do this nicely in a future post. If you are going to include these cards in your games, you should be aware that they are rather powerful and may be a little unbalancing.

Here are the cards, and a description of each.



Major Power: Diplomat Command Card
Cost: 4 Energy

Play on you turn before your first invasion is declared.

Draw 2 cards from each command deck that you are able to. (You must have that commander in play to draw from the deck.)




This card can really tip the balance in your favour. Who doesn't want a fist full of command cards to broaden their options? This card is especially good value if you happen to have most or all of your commanders in play, and if you are in a strong position with a lot of energy in hand then this card could possibly win the game for you. If you are in a bad spot though, and your energy is low, it might not be worth your while as those extra cards are not going to help a lot if you can't afford to play them.Of course if you're not going to spend that energy anyway it might net you a few valuable defensive cards or at least thin out the decks a bit to your opponents' detriment.



Major Flöwerz: Land Command Card
Cost: 4 Energy

Play on you turn before your first invasion is declared.

Remove a devastation marker. This territory is now passable.





Major Flöwerz has a very unfortunate name, and you better believe he's hardcore to have survived long enough to become a major in spite of his girly sounding name. Major Flöwerz is all about the environment, and he's quite active in his attempts to save the planet. Now, I generally find the devastation markers to be rather useful where they are and I take full advantage of them and don't want them going anywhere... chances are your opponents have a similar opinion and knowing that you can't sneak through that deadly radiation, they leave the areas behind the devastation marker pretty poorly defended. This is when Major Flöwerz unleashes a lifetime's worth of passive aggression and bottled rage from all the teasing he received as a kid and ruins your opponent's day by stripping him of his beneficial little wasteland barrier for good. Bear in mind however that you probably are pretty weak behind that devastation marker too, so you're gonna want to play this in combination with a few Assemble MODs to beef up your attacking force, and hopefully have a few Stealth MODs on hand to protect your new border because the devastation marker is not coming back to protect you after the fight. Another use for this card, though a rather expensive one, is to generously clean up the pollution in one of your opponent's continents. While this seems a very kind thing to do, he will likely swear at you rather than thank you as the now clean territory is unoccupied and deprives him of the bonus he'd normally get for occupying the whole continent.



Major Death: Naval Command Card
Cost: 4 Energy

Play on you turn before your first invasion is declared.

Destroy all opponents' naval commanders that are in play.




Major Death doesn't seem to much like competition, and wants the water to himself. Use this card when you are planning a major water offensive, to quickly and efficiently eliminate the risk of pesky and nasty defensive cards being played on you while you conquer the oceans. If timed well, this card could really work in your favour, but at the very least it will cause a fair bit of inconvenience to your enemies by forcing them to replace their Naval Commander should they wish to continue in the waters of the world.


Major Pain: Nuclear Command Card
Cost: 4 Energy

Play on you turn before your first invasion is declared.

During this turn, all units attacking from the same territory as your nuclear commander use 8-sided dice.




This card is only as effective as the brain in the head of the person who plays it. You want to play it at the critical moment, when your Nuke Commander has lots of buddies to support him on his rampage. Definitely worth it to lay down some army building cards like Assemble MODs in combination with this one. You might also want to use Decoys Revelealed to get your Nuke Commander into the best position if he isn't already. It's probably not worth paying for this card if your Nuke Commander already has other commanders to back him up, since 3 d8's are only a tiny improvement over 2 d8's and a d6.


Major Destruction: Space Command Card
Cost: 4 Energy

Play on you turn before your first invasion is declared.

Roll a 6-sided die. Destroy this many enemy space stations.





This card can just be plain nasty. Space Stations are hard to replace because you can't buy one unless you have all of your Commanders in play, and then they cost 5 energy each. This card can effectively remove the threat of being attacked on the moon if you roll high. Apart from that the card can weaken your opponents defense considerably. Without the Space Station the MODs on a border will only get to defend with d6's, making it slightly easier to penetrate, and each Space Station provides a free bonus MOD every turn which your enemy is going to have to live without until he gets a new one.

For more on Risk 2210 AD have a look at this interesting unofficial expansion.
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