CFB Risk Day 15 – You Come at the King, You Best Not Miss

Note: Today's recap written by a guest-speaker, filling in for our friend EastCoast Esq. Get well soon – that's an order, soldier.

 “… At least I have chicken.” – some guy

Pre-Recap Announcements:

1.    There is no roll tonight.  It’s Sunday and the hamsters powering the servers need a break.  Submit all moves by 10:30pm tomorrow.

2.    Team leaders are asking players to join the Michigan Discord group (see link below).  Currently only ~49% of our team is coordinating their actions together while everyone else is just doing their own thing (a.k.a. going “rogue”).  We can do so much more damage when working together.

<sigh>… So you really want to do this, huh?  *This* is something you think is going to somehow *improve* the situation? 

Here is the latest development as of last night: Wisconsin… has decided to go full Leeroy Jenkins.  They have very publicly declared war upon Michigan (along with posting an amusing screed online somehow blaming the situation on Michigan’s unwillingness to concede massive amounts of territory & position in exchange for *checks notes*… a single territory).  This is a situation oft encountered in multiplayer games: one player/team sees that they are never going be in a position to “win” the game – at least on their own – so they decide to take the route of pettiness and try to take someone else down with them.  I say “try” since this is not an evenly matched fight.  Not even close – and you’ll see this shortly.

So, thanks to some Wisconsin pettiness and typical osu basic nature, we no longer have any regions.  We have very strong presences in the four regions we’ve been trying to keep/take recently, as well as making some forays into the regions Wisconsin once controlled, but no bonuses this round.  We (and much of the CFB Risk community) had just pointed out *yesterday* the massive threat growing in the southern end of the map – the AGGIE DEATH STAR is still under construction – but sure, let’s just hamstring two of the only three teams on the board capable of stopping it.  What could go wrong?

A quick explanation of “regions”, since we will be discussing them more and more going forward:

The game is moving into phases where teams will be competing to control entire “regions”, which are groupings of adjacent territories.  The map is divided into twenty regions, as shown below.  Just like in the classic Risk game, there are incentives to control whole regions – but in this game it is a mathematical bonus to *all* attack/defend odds in favor of teams holding regions (those bonuses are not limited to actions taken within held regions – they apply everywhere).

Controlling regions is good.  Preventing opponents from controlling regions is also good.

 

So this will not be an even fight.  Michigan is *still* the most powerful team in the game and has done a reasonable job of maintaining that position.  Rather than discuss the counts for last night and then discuss how those compare to the previous night, I’m just going to put up these convenient little plots:

Not only are we in a much stronger position than Wisconsin, but we are growing faster than they are as well. 

Are you *sure* you really want to do this? 

We need to continue our growth to stay ahead in this game so if you haven't already - get involved!  If you already have, the get *someone else* involved!  Recruiting matters.

This would be a good time to have a high level view of the war: some way to visualize how things are progressing... like a map (now with added region boundaries and sea-routes, for your viewing pleasure).

No one north of SEC country is likely to be happy about this.

Abbreviated front summaries (because it’s Sunday and there is too much else to do):

·        All of Canada & Pacific Northwest: devolving into a rock fight between us and Wisconsin.

·        US East coast: mostly us & osu squabbling over control, Georgia Tech exists.

·        Greater Midwest: mostly us, osu & Wisconsin squabbling over territories as Tennessee (content to be an A&M sidekick) laughs at us both.

·        US Southeast: mostly osu vs Georgia Tech while Alabama (also content to be an A&M sidekick) & Tennessee laugh at them.  Florida still exists for now.

·        US Rockies & West coast: numerous small teams that are likely going to be swallowed up by Texas A&M in coming turns since no one will be coming to help them now.  USC died last night.

·        US Southwest, Mexico, & Caribbean:  AGGIE DEATH STAR nearing completion – only a matter of time.  A few small teams still there as well as small outposts from us & osu – none of which are likely to cause problems.

Alright… Let’s play.

A final reminder: it is strongly recommended to join the Michigan Discord server and coordinate with our friendly team leaders for assignments/orders (see link below). This is how to *most effectively* use your attack & defend moves to get us closer to actually winning the game.  However… fighting for your school, your team and your home is always a good thing, even if you have your own ideas about how to do that.  In the end, it’s still a game and the purpose is to have fun.

CFB Risk Top 25 Team Standings

We are now down to fewer than 25 active teams in the game from the original 130 and the final rankings are beginning to take shape.  Here is where they stand thus far (teams are ranked by # of territories first, followed by a mix of metrics examining how efficiently they used their players & stars:

1.    Michigan (47 territories)

2.    Texas A&M (46 territories)

3.    (an) Ohio State (20 territories)

4.    Wisconsin (15 territories)

5.    Tennessee (9 territories)

6.    Georgia Tech (9 territories)

7.    Nebraska (7 territories)

8.    Alabama (7 territories)

9.    Stanford (6 territories)

10.  Texas (6 territories)

11.  Florida (3 territories)

12.  Hawaii (2 territories)

13.  Oregon (2 territories)

14.  Iowa State (1 territories)

15.  Oklahoma (1 territories)

16.  LSU (1 territories)

17.  USC (killed Day 14)

18.  Washington (killed Day 13)

19.  Georgia (killed Day 12)

20.  Notre Dame (killed Day 11)

21.  Virginia Tech (killed Day 11)

22.  UCF (killed Day 11)

23.  Minnesota (killed Day 10)

24.  Baylor (killed Day 10)

25.  South Carolina (killed Day 10)

 

So remember to drink your Ovaltine, submit your move before 10:30pm tomorrow and have fun storming the castle!

 

Steps To Play Every Day

(1) Sign up for a reddit.com account if you don’t have one already

(2) Visit collegefootballrisk.com – Click Sign in with Reddit – Select Michigan as your team

(3) Join the Michigan Risk discord by going to https://discord.gg/DRQyjp56kP (this is now a permanent link, so there should not be problems accessing it)

(4) Go to the "vetting" channel and type in your MGoBlog username and Reddit username.

(5) Once vetted, get your orders from the "orders" channel.

(6) Return to collegefootballrisk.com – Click on the blinking "target" icon at the bottom of the page (3rd button from the right), and then click on the territory you're attacking or defending.

(7) Talk trash with your fellow Wolverines as we prepare for tonight's roll.

How Does the Game Work?

It is up to each team to recruit players and coordinate moves. You can choose to defend any territory that your team currently holds or attack any adjacent territory. A "roll" happens each evening to calculate which teams have won which territories that turn based on the moves that were made by individual players. The ultimate goal is to conquer as much of the map as possible for your team. There are a number of different ways to do this, such as through recruiting players in sheer numbers or forming alliances with other teams.

 

Previous Recaps

Day 0 intro: College Football Risk is BACK - Season 3 is now LIVE!

Day 1 recap: College Risk Again!!! Sign up.... 1st in the books!

Day2 recap: No update

Day 3 recap: No update

Day 4 recap: CFB Risk Day 4: IT BEGINS

Day 5 recap: CFB Risk Day 5 - And THIS is Why They Nerfed Us

Day 6 recap: CFB Risk Day 6 - This Feels a Lot Like Real Life (Sparty Gon' Die)

Day 7 recap: CFB Risk Day 7 - F*cking Sparty (They Still Gon' Die)

Day 8 recap: CFB Risk Day 8 - WE NEED YOU TO AVENGE THE ORANGE BOWL (also, sparty's dead)

Day 9 recap: CFB Risk Day 9 - We Kicked Georgia Out of the North -- Now We Go South

Day 10 recap: CFB Risk Day 10 – The King in the North! (also, sorry about that Penn State)

Day 11 recap: CFB Risk Day 11 – ANN ARBOR HAS BEEN TAKEN!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!

Day 12 recap: CFB Risk Day 12 – It’s Groundhog Day…again (also, Notre Dame is finally dead)

Day 13 recap: CFB Risk Day 13 – NOW I HAVE A MACHINE GUN HO-HO-HO

Day 14 recap: CFB Risk Day 14 – EPISODE XIV: THE AGGIE MENACE