The choice of dice for each army is handled by the computer and is based on the size of the army it represents. For example, an attacker with an army of eight battalions would use an orange dice, whose sides are heavily weighted towards threes, fours and fives, while a defender with only two battalions would have to rely on a white dice, which is endowed mainly with ones and twos.

The chart shows how this system works in practice, although you really do have to play the game to fully appreciate it.

Another change to the dice mechanics is with the number of casualties that result from each roll. The number of casualties is determined by the colour of the lowest ranking dice being rolled in the battle. For example, if the lowest ranking dice is a white dice (lowest rank of one), the number of casualties per losing player is one. If, however, the lowest ranking dice involved is a red dice (the highest colour allowed to the defender) which is ranked fourth on the power list, then any loser forfeits four battalions per roll of the dice. By the way, in keeping with the original's rules, drawn dice rolls still count as a win for the defender.

This can appear complex at first, but it's easily picked up and serves to minimise the battle time when two or more large armies meet.

It's especially interesting to see how people react to the new dice rules when they first make the transition from classic RISK to the new same-time game. The usual knee-jerk reaction is that the new dice are unfairly weighted in the defender's favour, but you soon see players adapting their strategies to make sure they always go into battle using the best dice available. It's an awesome event though, when you do pull off a victory against the odds.

Although it may be taken for granted by the majority of people who play same-time RISK, the new dice and dice rules are undoubtedly the element which received the most tweaking during the 'paper play' testing of RISK II. The area that caused the most argument, however, was the restructuring of the board's territories, which we'll cover in next week's diary.