Since the dawn of the game of RISK: Global Domination, people have found the Australia strategy to be one of the best positions in the game.
But in the modern day, people don’t like to let someone hold the small and well-defended continent.
So how do we make the RISK Australia strategy work? We’ll cover this along with tips and actionable strategies in the rest of the article.
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Table of Contents
What Is The Australia Turtle Strategy In A Nutshell?
Australia is the smallest continent (tied with South America) with four territories. Capturing them all gives you a bonus of 2 troops every turn.
It only has one access point, making it easy to defend in the early game and much of the middle game. Compared to South America, which has two access points or borders, this is better.
The strategy involves capturing the continent and putting your troops on Siam (ideally) or Indonesia (much worse).
Then, you wait out the other players and watch for your chance to take an opponent or opponents out.
Note: Only attempt the Australia strategy when playing with Fixed card bonuses. Using Progressive card bonuses, the continent offers no benefit and attracts unwanted attention.
Australia Strategy Pros And Cons
This strategy is well-loved by many players at many levels, but it’s also regarded as one of the most annoying ones too.
It’s not all good stuff! Let’s look at the pros and cons here.
Pros
It’s easy to take.
With only 4 territories, many players can capture the entire continent in one turn. A one-turn capture is a dream, and it’s often possible with a good starting Australia position.
It’s simple to defend from.
There is only one border from Siam to Indonesia. Putting all your troops on this territory makes it costly for the enemies to break you.
It leaves the other players to battle it out and weakens each other in fighting over the rest of the world.
RISK, especially with Fixed card bonuses, is a long-term game. Patience and gradually settling into an area to gain strength are key.
A well-established Australian “turtle” will keep the opponents away while they battle and weaken each other. You just need to be ready to take some people out when you have the opportunity.
With less skilled players especially, sometimes the best thing you can do is to wait them out. Australia
It’s a tough nut for new players to crack.
The act of breaking Australia is tough but not impossible. However, new players will either:
- Crash everything into you and make you both lose
- Leave you alone because they don’t want to lose
Most of the time, they opt for the latter, and this gives you a chance to grow strong enough to win.
Cons
People hate it when someone takes Australia.
Taking Australia too early in the game draws a lot of attention to you as the leader of the game at that point. To keep the game balanced, many players will go out of their way to either trap you in Australia or take you out.
It may be tough to get the opponents out.
People know how valuable Australia is. It’s RISK’s worst-kept secret.
As such, they’ll often leave a handful of 3s, 4s, or even 5s armies in there to slow you down.
If you act too fast, you’ll be too weak to hold Australia and may even end up being the first one knocked out of the game.
In a long game, other players will outpace your growth quickly.
Two extra armies every turn is great…in the beginning. In the middle and end games, it’s not great, especially if you don’t have a presence anywhere else.
If you don’t establish yourself early or your opponents don’t waste themselves fighting each other, you’re looking at a second-place finish, tops.
How To Make The RISK Australia Strategy Work For You
#1 Get The Continent Without Attracting Too Much Attention
Don’t get Australia in one fell swoop. Set yourself up to take it on the second or third, or even fourth turn.
Also, get it without wasting a ton of troops. If you need, let someone else with a medium army there capture some territories to thin themselves out.
Trade it your cards for a bonus and capture the continent to avoid being too weak.
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#2 Use Siam As A Launching Point
Capture Siam and put your big army there. Every turn, capture a territory with your reinforcements and then fortify back into Siam.
Warning! Don’t capture both India and China, and then fortify back into Siam. This will trap your army and make it so you’ll be ineffective in the game.
#3 Build Up Your Army Slowly
Capture one territory. Fortify into Siam. Turn in card bonuses and repeat. Your army will get larger and larger.
#4 Make Alliances
Make alliances with players near you in Asia. You want to be left alone as long as possible.
If needed, send a small army to attack those who are enemies of your ally, just enough to prove our value to your ally.
#5 Wait, Wait, Wait
When you are in Australia, the name of the game is waiting for the other players to weaken themselves while you get stronger and stronger.
Pay attention to the balance of the game. If one player gets stronger than all other players combined, then they can win the game.
If this is shaping up that way, take small actions to weaken them. Don’t break a continent bonus if you can help it or they’ll get mad at you and destroy you first.
When you have more troops than the others combined (or close to it), and you can wipe out a player in one turn to get their cards, go for it. Take as many territories as possible and continent bonuses.
Read more about how to win at head-to-head RISK.
Is The Aussie Continent Worth It?
All in all, the Australia strategy is one that players love to hate.
The truth is, it works well. But it also attracts too much attention and may get you eliminated early.
If it drops in your lap, go for it. But be flexible and don’t be afraid to give it up if you don’t see a benefit to staying there.
