Why Australia Sucks

Ever since Sunday, I've been on this big Risk binge. I've been reading up on strategies and it seems like there isn't much out there. Everything I did find only confirmed what we had discovered independently.

The first key is to stack as many of your armies as you can on one territory. This concentration of forces makes it much easier to win engagements and as act as deterrents to being attacked. The fear of retribution is a large one.

The second key is to try and gain control of a continent early in the game. This does not mean to just take over a continent; it means to hold it for at least a full round. If you are able to do that, most likely, you will be able to hold the continent for the better part of the game. If your opponents cannot dislodge your powerbase early, your advantage in resources will be overwhelming.

A lot of strategies focus on the strength of Australia. I propose that Australia is actually a red herring.

On the surface, Australia looks great. It has only 4 territories and one front. Gaining control of it is easy enough in the first turn or 2; netting you 2 additional armies per turn. This all looks fine and good, but here are the problems.

Even though Australia only has 1 front, it is difficult for it to mount any sort of attack on any of the other continents. Australia's logical expansion is in to Asia. If you're an experienced Risk player, you know how difficult it is to attempt to conquer Asia, let alone hold on to it.

Without expansion possibilities, you soon find that Australia becomes irrelavent. Before they can try and attack other continents, they must contend with everyone who is vying for Asia. In the meantime, they are slowly losing their smattering of territories across the map.

While all the other players are expanding, gaining cards, and moving closer to the next army, you are stuck in your corner of the world.

As an alternative, I propose establishing your stronghold in South America. South America is similar to Australia in that it has only 4 territories, 2 fronts, and gives you 2 additional armies. South America gives you the added bonus of being able to expand in to North America or Africa.

North America is actually the easier of the two to conquer because of its high prize. It's fairly large with 9 territories, but it only has 3 fronts, making it fairly easy to defend.

Since a lot of players want control of North America, it should be a small matter of waiting for the two players to burn themselves out fighting for control, and then you coming in with your army bonus and wiping them both up. All other players will be in a losing war against you because you have the bonus. Yes you will be losing, but if you plan your attack well, you should be able to wipe out one player's presence.

The best strategy is to gain control of both South America and Australia (if possible). Almost no one will try to take Australia once it is conquered which gives you an additional 2 army boost, letting you further dominate the Americas.

Risk rewards the aggressive. The attacker has a 6:5 advantage over the defender so it is better for you to attack. Planned well, it is very difficult for an unprepared opponent to stand up against you.