Risk (11/29/12- Lily)

Take 2:
     As our Risk board was cleared off since we last played and we didn't take any pictures of it, we had to start over. Jasmine was absent, so I played for her, managing to get the entirety of South America and Africa for her (then having her squander it by putting all her little soldierpeople in Madagascar, but never mind about that). However, we didn't save the board again, so on to take 3.

Take 3:
   We've realized that Risk kinda takes forever to play, so you really have to go out of your way to find time to play it right, which can be inconvenient (hence our inability to finish a game even after this long of a time). Our game will probably be similarly time-consuming so people can play it seriously (bit of an oxymoron, serious gameplay...) and really get into the strategy of it, because most of the board games I know of that can be played quickly are simple mindless games, and we don't want to make one of those.
    I almost have all of Asia! I put every one of my units in either Australia or Asia to start because I didn't want to be spread too thin around the world, and it's much easier to defend just one big connected corner of land than it is for even two areas. I did jump into attacking a bit too quickly and lost the Middle East to Nate's attack from Ukraine (which is also home to Victoria's time-sharing cavalry) because of my improperly defended border, but either way, it will be rectified soon enough. All of us have a certain focus area; Jasmine has settled herself into the Americas, Nate is based in Europe, and Andy is limited to Africa after I drove him out of Asia. It is a bit like 1984's superstates, except that each of us would really like to end the war by winning as quickly as possible instead of dragging it out.
     So far, the only real alliance we've had is mine and Jasmine's. We haven't had any coordinated attacks yet, but we share a border at the Bering Strait (or did, at least, before Nate invaded Alaska) and basically just don't attack each other, targeting Nate instead, viewing him as more of a threat, as he has more Risk experience than any of us. Andy barely has any units left and isn't a very useful alliance prospect, so Nate is on his own attacking us, though he's been almost holding his own.
     It does not seem likely we will return to Risk, as we our class time is limited after multiple absences by one group member or another and would like to move on to other games from which we can learn about different aspects of gameplay-- though I think it's really just because the others do not wish to face their imminent eradication from the face of the Risk board.