In my first ever manual distribution game (Brit Isle, mod foggy, 6 manual distributions), I noticed half of the players got all wanted lands (including full control of bonus), and half the players got screwed (sharing 1 bonus with 3 other players, few territories horribly scattered) and doomed to die. To make things more lopsided, players with bonus already starts out with extra army, while others start out with their usual 5, with no hope of getting bonus in at least several turns.

I personally like manual distribution games on Risk, but knowing that letting players take turns picking land would take DAYS/WEEKS just to start, here are some thoughts for adjustment.


1) Allow players to select "backup land"

For example, 6 land distribution game would allow players to pick...say 2X, so 12 spots from 1-12 in orders they want.

eg. Player A picks land &&&, and so does player B. If A got land &&&, then instead of randomizing the selection, it would move onto the backup land B wants, land %%%. That way, if there's a serious overlap players can still have at least some control over spread of their land.


2) Break up land picks into say - 2 turns, or even 3.

A balance between luck and waiting time, though I personally don't prefer it since it changes the game, some players might prefer it though.





I guess one thing I would like clarification is...whether randomization occurs at the very end of distribution (aka leftovers), or they actually get random land out of all available land at the time it occurs. If the latter is the case, then it could be best if list of distribution moves up, instead of waiting until end.

This already exists -- just pick the number of startign spots as there are players times the number of picks. So four players and 4 spots each means you pick 16. If it's head to head and you each pick four spots, you should pick eight.

At the end of the game you can see everyone's picks by going to the earliest turn in History and selectign their name on the pull down menu. This shoudl help you figure out how it works. Just look at any experienced player from a game you've finished.

The order picks go in is ABBCCDDEE etc. for a two player game.

If you've picked only 4 spots, and your opponant picked the same 4, you'll end up with 2 spots randomly chosen by the game.

HTH

I had a 1x1 game with Ruthless recently where I got my 8th pick. That meant I knew exactly which four starting spots Ruthless had -- an overwhelming advantage. A good strategy is to look at the starting points your opp likes to pick and pick countering starting points.

I guess all of us were too newb and picked only as much allowed land.


Great to hear from experienced players! Never thought about the advantage as well, since I'm playing light fogged. Randy you really rock like a quick brown fox :)

why you gotta call me out.... ;P