Enter: The Big Booms (game session)

The Players:

• Peter: a 5-time winner of the trophy; The Risk Master
  
• Gary: the previous holder of the Risk Master trophy; The Atlantean Champion
• Alan: has never won the trophy, despite his love of nuclear explosions; Proponent of “Peaceful Coexistence”
• Steve: perhaps the only one who could prove a threat to Pete’s might– if he played more games; The Occasionally Present

The Game: Nuclear War (x2!)

Game the First

Apparently, people want to keep the person in the lead from winning more games. Who knew? Through the use of propaganda, Steve’s population dwindled so quickly that he never even entered the nuclear-phase of the war. Gary fared much better than Steve, but not better enough. Nuclear weapons took him out soon enough.

Although Alan was able  to fire a warhead or two off while Gary was still with us, he apparently didn’t have the technology to produce many missiles.  Sure, he had the material for the big BOOMS, but what good is that if you try to attach the nuclear material to a stick in the ground?

Pete was quite happy when he drew a Top Secret card powerful enough to wipe out the entirety of Alan’s population. “I could win this,” Pete thought. Unbeknownst to Pete, there can still be nuclear retaliation after being taken out by a secret card. And, as everyone knows, there are no winners in nuclear war…

Game the Second

Steve did better! He fired off missiles and used propaganda to steal other nations’ populations! A victory in and of itself, it seems. Well, enough of that.

Alan was the first to go. He was trying to take Steve out, but only managed to give him the willies (OK, he did dwindle Steve’s population a bit, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Alan’s own destruction). Without missing a beat, Gary and Pete took care of Steve. I have it on good authority that they felt pretty good about themselves.

Without needing much effort, Pete killed off the remnants of Gary’s population. Nuclear retaliation can be a bitch. Of course, Pete had initially felt no cause for alarm during this pissing contest between friends since he started with more than 75 million people in his care. It should have been an easy victory. But, as we all know, there are no winners in nuclear war…