"To defend everything is to defend nothing"

Family holidays often include lots of games/competition: we have ping-pong and pool in the basement, and a wide range of board games as well. Since I've been home we've played Cutthroat and 8-ball, ping-pong, poker, dealer games and our on-again, off-again favorite: RISK.

Now the last few games of RISK were short, as our Dad would always fortify and hold Australia and attempt to win from there; the remainder of the family, naturally, would just gang up on him, and after wiping him out, we would just quit. But yesterday, we actually completed an entire game; and there was a little more interest in it because we had five players, instead of four (can't forget TW!).

The game started w/the five of us claiming general areas: I was in S. America, my brother was N. America, Dad of course in Australia, Mom in Africa and TW in Asia. My plan was the lay low a little bit and hope that other people would get delusions of grandeur and march off to battle. My brother was the first to attempt that as he went east, through Greenland, and west through Kamchatka. His battles never really conquered much, but they certainly increased the ire at the table.

I made a few thrusts and parries: north into N. America and east into Africa, but never much to hold an entire continent. In fact, it was TW to get the first continent as she swept through Australia with ease (way to go, TW!--welcome to the family...).

The tipping point came when my brother was a little too overexposed after one of his 'boredom' attacks; I decided my best opportunity to win would be to wipe him out and take his cards. In an almost even fight, I roled big and took him out fairly easily.

After that, TW and my Mom made one fatal error. I was in the same position as my brother: over exposed after a battle and holding N. America with little-to-no armies at the borders. Neither TW or Mom saw the opportunity to break my chokehold on N. America and they stopped their rolls at my (weakly defended) borders.

Now for TW's point-of-view: "In my defense, I did see that celexo was in a weak position, but his Dad was also weak - only holding 2 countries. Whichever one I attacked I was trying to eliminate to take their cards. In the end I picked Dad because he had fewer countries. Unfortunately for me, he started rolling 6's and I stalled my attack because he was just too hot. I suppose I still could have come at celexo from the other side of Asia, but I just wasn't thinking about it after being decimated in Eastern Europe."

[How about a big round of applause for TW's inaugural appearance in the blog? Look for her "X-mas in STL" wrapup coming soon.]

Anyway, from my position of strength in the Americas, I was able to sweep through Africa from behind and wipe out my mother. At that point, I held 10 cards and had to immediately turn them in (per the rules), which garnered me 50+ armies in which I could fortify everywhere, luckily!

TW tried to take me out, but my stronghold in Europe held--it's those pesky Krauts, you know? From there I was able to sweep throughout the entire board and wipe out TW.

Luckily I declined the previous offer from TW for a royal marriage uniting the world; instead, I crowned myself Emperor (much like Napolean--Bonaparte, not Dynamite) and ruled the world! Fun times, as always...