Rome 2 Total War: RISK

With the release of Rome 2 Total War, and the problems presented by both the M2TW engine and the previous rule set for Total War RISK, those of you who have purchased this brand new title by the Creative Assembly are welcomed to join our forum based RISK game.

Using the Rome 2 multiplayer engine, battles for territory will be fought with in game, using the extensive territory map designed for Rome 2. As such, the first resource I would like to direct you to is the Rome 2 Campaign Map. As you will later see, a slightly altered version of this is what we will be using to keep track of our territories and armies.

Now then, to join the game, there are some obvious requirements. The first is obviously that you must own a copy of Rome 2 Total War, and have a suitable internet connection and computer so that you can fight battles with the multiplayer. The second, is that you check back at the forum each day to see if there's been a map update. This is highly important, since the game is going to take long enough as it is without people taking several days to take their turn. The third, is that you will be able to periodically, if necessary, stay up late or log on early, so that you can fight your battle with an enemy. Most of us hail from differing time zones, so some amount of effort is going to be required.

If you meet the above criteria, take a look at the factions presented by the Campaign Map linked above. You will need to choose an unclaimed faction (first come first serve,) and choose a starting location on the map. Historical accuracy in your starting location is not required. Once enough players have joined the game, a map update will be posted and you will see your starting territory with a settlement present within.

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The next step will be taking your turn, so the first thing we need to cover is how a turn plays out. There is a series of steps that you can respond to, if you have a viable action. Those steps will be listed and detailed below.

• Dice Roll: The first thing any player will need to do is take a roll of the dice. Due to the fact that there seems to be an issue with the dice roll code, dice gains will be decided based on a simpler method. Even numbers will grant you 500 gold for the turn, odd numbers will grant 1000. Simple as that.
  
• Income: This is the stage where you distribute your income among your territories. Income consists of territory and provincial income, the income from your dice roll, and trade income.
  
  Furthermore, during your income phase, you may select one empty territory adjacent to a current territory you own, and occupy it. If you would like to take an additional unoccupied territory this turn, it will cost you an extra 2000 gold, so make your decisions wisely.
  
• Movement and Combat: The final step of the turn, this is where you decide if you wish to attack any players you are at war with. The first mechanic involved here is movement. For both movement and attack, your gold is limited to movement between three provinces each turn, and your armies can only attack three times a turn as well.
  

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There are three things in Rome 2 Risk that are highly important and which your survival will be dependent on.

The first thing you need to know about is provinces. Each province consists of several territories, and controlling an entire province nets you a bonus of gold. Income for a province is gathered completely in that provinces capital. The bonuses for province control are as follows.

• Two Territory Province: 500 gold
  
• Three Territory Province: 1000 gold
  
• Four Territory Province: 1500 gold.
  

The next point of note is Territories. Each turn, you get a neighboring unoccupied territory added to your faction, and every additional territory you want to take after that costs an additional 2000 gold. A territory itself does not grant you any additional gold bonuses, but you can build a settlement in the territory to increase your income.

As such, the last important part of this section is Settlements. A settlement costs money to build, though it confers several benefits, and can be upgraded in several ways. The first of which is by increasing its size.

The bonuses for owning a settlement are as follows:

• Small: + 500g
  
• Medium: + 1000g
  
• Large: + 1500g
  
• Extra Large: + 2500g
  

To upgrade a territory to contain a settlement, and to increase the size of the settlement, the prices are as follows:

• Territory > Small Settlement: 2500g
  
• Small > Medium: 5000g
  
• Medium > Large: 7500g
  
• Large > Extra Large: 10000g
  

Finally, once you have a settlement in a province, they can be upgraded in a number of ways to further benefit your faction.

• Barracks, 5000g > Give your territory a garrison, which increase the units which can be used in defense of the settlement. 2500 for a small settlement, 5000 for a medium settlement, 7500 for a large settlement, and 10,000 for an extra large settlement.
  
• Walls, 5000g > Gives your settlement walls to aid in it's defense.
  

Province wide.

• Trade Market/Port, 10,000g. > Increases the trade amount from the province it resides in by 500 gold.
  
• Center of Commerce, 10,000g. > Adds 2500 gold to the income of the province.
  
• Roads, 5000g > Gold Movement through the province the road resides in is free.
  

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There are several types of diplomacy in R2 Risk, all of which will be important for securing victory. They are as follows:

• NAP: A non aggression pact is an agreement between two parties not to attack one another. This pact lasts indefinitely, though breaking it before it has been in place for ten turns is seen as treasonous. As such, it costs 2500 gold to break an NAP before it has been in place for ten turns.
  
• Military Access: With an NAP in place, this allows a faction to move throughout your territories freely, and you theirs.
  
• Defensive Allies: While not directly agreeing to go to war with a faction, you agree to assist in the defense of a player's territories if able. Fighting battles in a territory of a player you have this agreement with does not force you into war with a player.
  
• Allies: This grants all the benefits of the previous agreements, but also allows you to achieve victory if only you and your ally remains on the map. If this agreement is broken, you are seen as a traitor, and can not longer makes any type of agreements with any other faction, in addition to immediately being thrust into permanent war with any other players.
  
• Trade Agreement: So long as you control an unblocked route to a province, each province provides an income of 500g. The province must be completely controlled by a player and have at least one settlement within it's borders to be viable for a trade agreement. This agreement is automatically broken when war with the faction is declared.
  
• WAR!!! : You and the faction in question are at War. You can no longer distribute your gold wherever you desire, and it must be moved as described in the Combat and Movement section.
  

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Most battles will be a simple matter of simply deciding how much gold you want to use, and picking your army. However, there are a few things that will influence a battle. The first, is a limit on how many soldiers you can field at once. Until the 50th turn of the game, gold per battle will be restricted to a maximum of 25000, with 20 units in your army. After the 50th turn, large armies will be unlocked, and you can use up to 50,000 gold and 40 units.

The second, is attempting ambush battles. To attempt an ambush battle, you must be defending in a territory you control, and that gold must not have been moved at any point during the turn. Attacks on settlements do not confer this opportunity. Furthermore, you must pay 1/10th of the amount you are attempting to ambush with (10,000 gold in ambush means you must also pay 1000g, 25,000g means you must pay 2500g, etc.)


So, without further ado, those of you who would like to play, pick a faction, a starting territory, and prepare for war.