Availability of expansion boards

[maelic001]

From the July 30, 2003 press release regarding the Avalon Hill Frontline program:

"With new maps and additional rules, the RISK 2210 Mars season offers many new game-play opportunities. The primary game map is based on an actual image of Mars taken by the Hubble telescope, and the winner of each tournament gets to keep this collectible map, which will not be for sale in any stores and is only available through the AVALON HILL FRONTLINE program."

So does this mean if we don't have a local store participating in the program, we're out of luck in ever getting to play these expansions?!? I sincerely hope you reconsider packaging these and selling them to the public after the end of each "season." If not, I guess there's always ebay....

[zooooma]

Hi Maelic001.

From what I understand, the frontline program will feature expansion sets which are intended for playtest. Presumably, some time after the expansion sets are tested in the frontline program (and after the game designers/developers receieve feedback from those who participate in the frontline program), the expansion sets (or some of the more popular ones) will be released to the general public. Most likely the expansion sets which are eventually released will be slightly different in mechanics and appearance then the versions which will be playtested during the fronline.

I suppose that it's possible that each playtest expansion set will be released unadulterated, but that would tend to defeat the purpose of using the tournaments as an opurtunity for playtesting and mass feedback. You can always try eBay. However, be forwarned that the "major" promo cards from GenCon 2001 come up very rarely, and end up being fairly expensive. Also, the plexiglass gameboard that was awarded to each of the finalists at GenCon this year has yet to appear on eBay at all (as far as I am aware). Basically, the extra stuff for Risk 2210 is unabundnat, and mostly owned by those unwilling to part with it (Can't say I blame them). The frontline expansion sets will doubtlessly be no different.

Your best bet may be to contact your local store and try to persuade them to run the program (maybe offer to help out). Other than that, I suppose all there is to do is wait till either the completeted expansions are releaes, or hope to get lucky on eBay.

BTW, has anyone played Mars yet? Any great war stories?

-Luke

[maelic001]

Ahh. That's cool then. I hope the program does succeed so we end up seeing these expansions show up on the open market. Maybe they could market the three that are scheduled to come out by the end of this year as Risk 2211, and the four scheduled for next year at Risk 2212. It is sort of weird that they plan on doing tournament rankings on playtest boards though.

There's a picture of the Mars map in this article: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/3371.html
but it's hard to see with that coloring how it was supposedly based off of photos from the Hubble.

By the way, are these new expansions being created by the original designers Rob Daviau and Craig Van Ness?

[ August 29, 2003, 04:42 AM: Message edited by: maelic001 ]

[zooooma]

Hello Maelic001.

Thanks a lot for that link!

I am drooling.
-Luke

[Milwaukee_Madmen]

I love the concept, however the map should be in the same format as the moon map (since mars has no oceans per se like earth) or at least a globe on a square. That mars map is too much like the AH "A&A Europe" map which doesn't accurately protray a globe, but rather a localized section.

Just my three latinum pieces worth.

[zooooma]

Hello Brewcity.

I Think they needed oceans to ensure the continued usefulness of the the navy commander. Anyway, though there is only I think a small amount of frozen water on the surface of Mars in 2003, I can only imagine what it would consist of in 2210...

Anyway, I think the Mars map looks fun, and I'm interested to see how the two moons afect the game. However, I am much more psyched to see the new commander and command card deck comming out in the second season. I'm guessing it's some sort of special-ops/intelligence/espionage theme, but only time will tell.

Cheers.
-Luke

[maelic001]

The Season One Mars map seems more like a view of the northern hemisphere of the planet rather than a representation of the entire globe. There isn't really any oceans, but rather a melted polar ice cap and a couple of large lakes. The "continents" of Mars are separated by "neutral" deadland territories rather than water. You don't get any MOD/energy bonuses for holding these lands, but they do need to be held in order to close off entry points into the continents you hold.

The moons are interesting in that they have a moon gate between them so that you can cross over between the two. Phobos has 2 colonies and Deimos has only one. Each moon has two landing zones.

[maelic001]

I managed to get my hands on a board, but haven't gotten a chance to play it yet. The board itself is just a folded up poster and another one for the moons. It does come with its own set of land, sea, and lunar cards which are basically oversized playing cards with pics of their respective territories taken directly from the maps on them. Exactly what you would expect from playtest materials. With only the northern hemisphere represented here, it does leave open the possibility of a map for the southern hemisphere of Mars in a future expansion.

[zooooma]

Thanks again Maelic001.

It sounds as though you've played. What did you think? And did the kit include new territory cards, or did they somehow get around that?

-Luke

[Milwaukee_Madmen]

/BUMP!

Hey Maelic!

Any chance you could either provide a clearer picture of that map (larger Scan or scans in sections) and/or provide a list of the continents and their related point values?

Don't even need names for the territories (hell we'll just number them if we have to... lol) but need to know the point values for the continents and while colors and outlines show up in the picture well enough, you can't read anything. I am considering blowing the picture up to match the size of the existing risk board, digitally enhancing the photo (retyping all of the text) and having it printed out so I can glue it to our group's second copy of the original board. smile.gif

Would greatly appreciate if if you could! smile.gif

Thanks much!

[maelic001]

I'd love to, but I'm still wary of getting a cease and desist letter from WotC because they still haven't responded regarding my inquiries on this very matter.

[Incubus]

I caught a glimpse of that Mars map, not really fond of the layout but I really like the concept of having two moons. It would also make cards like 'Energy Extraction' and 'Invade Earth' a little more useful.

[Milwaukee_Madmen]

Actually, it might make Energy Extraction more useful because there are less territories on each moon, therfore less to take and hold to achieve the card's "mission".

However, it makes the "Invade Earth" card a little better only for the "victim"... you see there's a total of fourteen moon colonies in BOTH versions. In Risk 2210 "Earth", the moon has 14 colonies you can attack from via "Invade Earth".

There's 14 in Risk 2210 "Mars" as well, but they are spaced between two moons. This is a classic case of "can't have your cake and eat it too."

Phobos has 9 colonies spread between two continents, with 4 and 5 colonies respectively. Diemos has 5 colonies on one continent covering that entire moon.

So it's either less territories to invade from but less for energy extraction, or you still have to take them all for energy extraction but you can still invade from them all. Big choice there.

I mean, how does scatter bomb moon work? Is there only one moon deck with all the cards for all the territories in the Mars expansion, or are there two decks, one for each moon? Couple questions for ya there Maelic. smile.gif

How scatter bomb moon works is also another really good indicator of how "Invade Earth" and "Energy Extraction" work, as well. Because technically, although there are two physical moons... they ARE connected by a gate... so that could construe them as one entity, as well.

Funny that both versions of the game have 14 moon colonies. Someone must like that number.

[maelic001]

There is just one Lunar deck for the territories on both moons.

[maelic001]

For some reason this board won't let me post this as a new topic, so I'm adding it in as a reply here. Hopefully, people can find it....

New Season of Risk 2210 Frontline!

Just got info on a new season of Risk 2210 Frontline for 2004 from my local game store. This one is called "Alien Invasion" and revolves around a neutral party coming in to muck things up right in the middle of the normal game of global conquest. There's a deck of 30 cards (5 players x 5 turns + 5 unused) that each player must draw from and carry out at the start of their turn before the deployment phase. These cards can do anything from invade territories, kill commanders, destroy energy/command cards, increase/decrease the alien force already deployed, etc. These alien invaders apparently are immune to the effects of your command cards and attack/defend on a d8. There's also supposed to be some new diplomat cards to add into the mix. I should get a chance to play it within the next week so I'll try to give a more detailed account of this new season then.

[ecliptic]

If they are going to have something like that, they need atleast 50 cards.

[maelic001]

How do you figure? 5 players times 5 turns is 25 cards. Add 5 more cards that won't get played during a game and that makes 30.

[Septyn]

The Alien Invasion Frontline game sounds vaguely like the Martian Risk variant for the classic game. I wonder if that's where they got the idea from, or if it was an independant creation. Of course, the random cards makes for some interesting events, I'm sure. (Speaking of similarities, I wonder if there's any connection to the partisan cards of Fortress America.....)

Sep

[maelic001]

Still having trouble adding new topics on this board, but it lets me post replies with no problem for some strange reason... Oh well, here goes:

The fourth season of Risk 2210 Frontline is here. Beware the "Invasion of the Giant Amoebas"! This expansion comes with a set of 30 cards representing the Alien Invasion and 3 Diplomat cards to add to your set. You'll need some pennies, chits, dead files, etc. to represent the aliens on the board. You'll also need something to represent additional devastation markers.

At the beginning of each player's turn before their deployment phase, you must turn over the top card of the Alien Invasion deck and do what it says. Aliens attack/defend on a d8. If an alien invades your territory you have the option to either fight or retreat your forces to an adjacent territory; If you do choose to fight, it must be to the death. Aliens will not attack further from captured territories, but will remain to defend said territories.

Here's the breakdown of the Alien Invasion deck:

Land Invasion (x6)
Turn over the top card of the Land Territory Deck.
3 Aliens are invading that territory. The defending player (if any) may defend or retreat.

Water Invasion (x4)
Turn over the top card of the Water Territory Deck.
3 Aliens are invading that territory. The defending player (if any) may defend or retreat.

Lunar Invasion (x3)
Turn over the top card of the Lunar Territory Deck.
3 Aliens are invading that territory. The defending player (if any) may defend or retreat.

Heroic Resistance Leader (x2)
Remove 2 units of your choice and replace them with a Commander of your choice.

Alien Spawning (x3)
Double the amount of Alien units on each invaded space.

Communications Intercepted (x2)
Turn over the top 5 cards of the Land, Water and Lunar Territory Decks.
Place them back in the same order.

Alien Land Devastation (x2)
Turn over the top card of the Land Territory Deck.
Place a devastation marker in that territory. A player in that territory (if any) may retreat, if able.

Alien Water Devastation (x1)
Turn over the top card of the Water Territory Deck.
Place a devastation marker in that territory. A player in that territory (if any) may retreat, if able.

Alien Lunar Devastation (x1)
Turn over the top card of the Lunar Territory Deck.
Place a devastation marker in that territory. A player in that territory (if any) may retreat, if able.

Mothership Syphon (x2)
All players lose 1 Energy.

Terraforming (x2)
You may remove 1 Devastation marker of your choice.

Alien Warning (x1)
All players lose 5 units, in turn order.
Players choose their own losses.

Aliens Catch a Cold (x1)
Remove all Alien units from the boards.

The new Diplomat card is:

Wartime Inflation (x3)
Cost: 0
Play on your turn before your first invasion is declared.
You may not play this card if you have played another Command card this turn. For the remainder of the year, all energy costs (purchase costs and effect costs) are increased by 1.

All in all, an interesting new expansion and the production qualities are really nice on this one. The new cards are even the same size as the original decks (previous Frontline expansions had oversized cards). Yet again, here's hoping AH plans on releasing this and the previous Frontline expansions in a proper "booster pack" format so everyone can get access to them.

[Milwaukee_Madmen]

Heh. We love a challenge and look forward to fighting the smooshie invaders. smile.gif

We are tabletop gamers and have plenty of things to use for the Invader models, however we will probably just yank some figs from our group's Fortress America box - just faster and simpler that way. Nothing like bright yellow troops on the board to say "Hey, I don't belong here!" smile.gif

For anyone wanting to try this out, with 30 cards... you may just want to use a deck of cards, and put a letter on the card in big black marker that corresponds to a list of the cards. That's what we are probably going to do. Heh. Maelic is always thoughtful enough to include how many cards are to be included with each description.

But - some questions for ya maelic! smile.gif Ya knew it had to be coming. You mentioned in your intro post about it that the aliens might be immune to command cards... did this turn out to be true, or no?

Also, the intercepted com card... where you turn over the top five cards on the territory decks... does only the player who plays that card get to see the cards? Or is that reveal to everyone? Asking because the hero card seems to only affect the person drawing the card...

Anyways, good show man. Thanks supremely for the info... I know our guys are sure going to appreciate it.

[maelic001]

Unfortunately, the rule sheet had been misplaced when we played, so we just made our own judgement calls as we went along. Yes, the aliens are indeed immune to command cards being played on them. We played the Communications Intercepted card as having the cards being seen by everybody, but I can see that going either way. We also played the Heroic Resistance Leader as needing both replaced units coming from the same territory, and the new Commander had to be placed in said territory. Hopefully someone with the rule sheet, or better yet one of the expansion designers, can chime in here and give the proper ruling.

p.s. BW, check your private mail on here when you get a chance...

[ February 19, 2004, 06:53 PM: Message edited by: maelic001 ]

[Carlo]

Can someone of you americans buddies send me by e-mail Risk2210 frontline stuff?
Here in Italy is already difficult to get AH games(we have to import them :mad: ), and I don't know :confused: if there's any store in the frontline program, here.

[Milwaukee_Madmen]

You don't even need it by Email Karl. Frontline Seasons One (Mars) and Four (Attack of the Giant Amoebas) is available in this very thread! smile.gif

Frontline Seasons Two and Three information are available in the threads of the same name right here on the boards as well... I will bump both of them up to bring them to the top.

Feel free to go on and and read up on them - many kudos to maelic001 for keeping those of us who don't have the frontline program near us, in the know! smile.gif

[Carlo]

Thank you guys :D .
Do you think that AH will try new Out-of-Earth maps? I've already got in my mind things like an Alpha Centauri map or an Ursa Major 45 map (some time ago NASA said that this Star sistem have a planet that could be the home of complex carbone-based life forms).

[maelic001]

Well, if you take the storyline of Risk 2210 for what it's worth, if we're still at war over plots of land on Earth, Mars and their moons, as well as fighting off a new alien invasion from giant amoebas, we probably don't have the time or resources to leave our solar system quite just yet. :D

[Carlo]

WE don't know nearly nothing of the background of the game, maybe in a little period of peace and prosperity between or before the recent war(fighted by players) and the others conflicts(those who left the Wastelands in the game), some sort of hyperdrive was discover or some colonists were put in stasis and launched out of Sol. Maybe even Venus has got Terraformed.

[Carlo]

Maybe mankind would like a revenge on the Slimes(for devasting the Sacred Home :mad: ), so a future expansion could feature the Amoebas home planet,all to invade, with new rules (because of the different enviroment), a new commander(something like a bio-commander, for terraforming and anti-aliens cards), the common enemy to defeat, and the fight for the loot.
Hey AValon hill, do you hear me?
I hope You'll like these ideas

[maelic001]

Of course now they probably can't use any of your ideas because you didn't include a boiler plate... smile.gif

[Carlo]

Oh, I'm laughing to death....
Anyway I'm curios. It passed nearly a month ,frontline seasons are every two months,so there is only a month to the next season....
Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[maelic001]

The inital press release said this year they would alternate between seasons for Risk 2210, Acquire, and Axis and Allies. It may be a while before we see another Risk 2210 expansion if this still holds true.

[Carlo]

redface.gif What I've understood from the official pages about frontline programs( you can find them at the Organized play link), Avalon Hill Won't alternate seasons so every two months we'll have a risk2210 season and Acquire And AXis&Allies seasons (but probably they'll do something like January:R2210, February:Acquire, March:A&A). Anyway ,the Acquire and Axis&ALlies Seasonshave not begun yet. :cool: