As a lifetime fan of the game Risk...

[JohnnyRingo]

...I would not be happy to change my game board with a colored sharpie just to placate a little man who would have to return to his pickup truck to put on a shirt before they allow him into the local Speedway station.

Sure, many people will suffer greater loss and tragedy, but I've played this game all my life and I'm not alright with giving up any part of the Ukraine. As anyone can see on the game board below, Ukraine is clearly blue and therefore belongs to the blue European continent of countries, and it's been like that since 1957 when the game was introduced. The green continent of countries was hard enough to defend against without adding strategic real estate to the East. I am not ok with this pending annexation.

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And this is how I learned geography.

Having said that, I'm largely anti war unless my drunken buddies want to meet up and try to take over the world.

[Walleye]

1. I used to play that game. I was amazed at how often the armies were concentrated

In places where wars really to break out in real life. And I’v thought lately that what we are playing now is a large scale three dimensional game of Risk. Everybody should try it out, it’s a good lesson

[JohnnyRingo]

3. indeed, it's very real when I play

I've infuriated friends when I call for a break and secretly corner a player with a diplomatic alliance to go after another powerhouse player. That way, we can focus our armies on the common enemy instead of each other. And that is peace through strength.

Needless to say, that pact always breaks down when one of us sees an opportunity to take the other's cards and the long knives come out. Trust but verify.

Lessons learned.

[Walleye]

4. The long knives. Exactly

[Tommymac]

8. Bet you played 'Diplomacy' too.

Now that was a cut throat experience for me in college.

Risk on steroids.

[Ron Obvious]

9. And no dice!

Used to play by mail. Treachery and backstabbing highly encouraged!

[SWBTATTReg]

2. One of my favorite games. I still have a couple of editions of Risk. Curious, how many

editions of Risk did they make?

[2naSalit]

5. That looks like an early edition board!

We had a game set when I was in my teens, my brother and some neighbor kids would start a game and it would last for days. We would make alliances and negotiate power moves. We had a good idea about much of that stuff as our parents never shielded us from the realities of the political world.

[Sherman A1]

6. If you like Risk you should try Diplomacy

Pre WWI Europe and you cannot win without making (and then breaking) alliances.

[Kaleva]

10. A game best played with people you didn't know .

[Sherman A1]

11. Indeed

[RobinA]

7. I Am A Risk Fan

and that is the board I learned on and only one I have ever played. My Number 1 Risk rule, and really my only Risk rule, is to stay the hell out of Europe until the very last minute, and maybe not even then.

Let someone else try to defend that graveyard of civilizations. That’s one less person who will be around at the end.