Let's Get this Game Started

Welcome to my blog. I want to get started by introducing the game for anyone who has never heard of it or who has only played the original version. For a detailed look at the rules of this game, go to
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=ah/prod/risk2210
Click on "download the rulebook".
Allow me to discuss some of the differences in this version as compared to the original.

• Turn limits and turn order: The goal of this game is not to take over the entire wold. There is a 5 turn (year) limit, and the player with the most points (territories + bonuses) at the end of the 5 years is the winner. Each year, the turn order for each player changes. This is decided by bidding energy and choosing positions. The winner of the bid chooses his turn order first, and so on. All energy bid is lost by the player bidding it. There are certain advantages for going either first or last depending on your strategy in the game.
• Energy: Energy works as money in the game. It is used to buy commanders, command cards, and bases, and is needed to play most command cards. It is also used to bid for turn order. The amount of energy received by a player at the beginning of a turn is equal to the amount of reinforcements the player receives.
• Additional Territories: Not only are most of the names and shapes of the territories on Earth different, but this game also includes a 3 moon continents, and 5 water continents. The water territories can be accessed from various points on Earth, which are easily seen by lines drawn on the board. The moon territories however, can only be accessed via a base on earth and can only be entered by 3 points on the moon itself. All of this makes for a more complicated and interesting game.
  
• Commanders: There are five special pieces in the game known as commanders. They are the Land Com., Moon Com., Water Com., Nuclear Com., and the Diplomat. Commanders can be purchased at the beginning of a turn for 3 energy each. The commanders allow the controlling player to have dice bonuses. The Diplomat is the only defensive commander, and thus allows a player to roll an 8-sided die for defense if the Diplomat is attacked. The other 4 commanders use an 8-sided die for attacking. The Nuke can use this bonus anywhere, but the other 3 are limited to their respective types of territory (water, moon, and land). In addition, a Water Com. must be purchased to allow a player to travel into any water territories and a Moon Com. must be purchased to allow access to the moon territories. Finally, the commanders allow usage of their respective command cards.
• Command Cards: There are 5 types of command cards which correspond to the 5 types of commanders. Each card costs 1 energy to buy, and various amounts to use. A card cannot be played unless the player owns the corresponding commander. Each deck is strategic in its own way, and in my opinion, the key to winning the game is almost always found in the cards. See the rule book for a detailed list of the cards and what they do.
• Bases: Every player receives one free base to place on any territory they control at the beginning of the game. Additional bases can be purchased for 5 energy each and are also given for free or cheap with some of the cards. The bases provide a very powerful defensive bonus. The defender of a base is allowed to roll two 8-sided dice, making it very hard to take a well-defended base. In the event that a base is successfully taken, the attacker replaces the base with one of his own. Also, these bases are the only points in which a player is allowed to leave earth and enter the moon territories.

Alright, now that that's out of the way, we can get into the fun stuff. I want everybody to keep in mind that my friends and I have some "house" rules that we use. Not everything we do is exactly the way it is laid out in the rule book, but we feel like the way we play best suits us. One of the great things about the game is how versatile it is. As long as everyone playing agrees on the rules, just about anything can be changed to suit your preferences. I will try to point out the things we do our own way and explain why we do it as they come up. Tonight (hopefully) will be our first documented game. I'm going to record everything that goes on, and attempt to break down the strategies for you to read. I'll also try to get a video of each player introducing himself, so you can be familiar with us.
Please feel free at any time to comment and let me know what you would like to read about on this blog. I want this to be as helpful and interesting as possible for the Risk fans out there, and I'm also hoping to get some new players into the game. So let me know what you think and have fun playing!