Overview

Risk Godstorm is a mythology-themed Risk variant published by Avalon Hill, designed by Mike Selinker. Players command one of five ancient civilizations – Greek, Celtic, Norse, Egyptian, and Babylonian – clashing for supremacy of the ancient world. Key innovations over classic Risk include a pantheon of four gods per civilization, miracle cards, an underworld where fallen troops continue to fight, and the sinking of Atlantis. The game is played over 5 rounds (epochs).

Components

• Game board depicting Europe, North Africa, and the ancient world
• Underworld board
• 382 miniature playing pieces (highly detailed civilization-specific troops, gods)
• Territory cards
• 4 decks of miracle cards (Sky, War, Death, Magic)
• God reminder cards for each player
• Turn counter
• Atlantis template overlay
• Multiple dice
• Civilization tokens and markers

Setup

1. Place the game board and underworld board.
2. Each player selects a civilization and takes all corresponding units and god figures.
3. Players place their starting troops on territories according to the setup chart (varies by player count).
4. Place the Atlantis template on the board.
5. Shuffle each miracle card deck separately.
6. Set the turn counter to Epoch 1.
7. Each player places their 4 gods (Sky, War, Death, Magic) in their supply.

Turn Structure

Each epoch consists of player turns taken in order:

1. Reinforcement Phase: Receive new troops based on territories held, continent bonuses, and territory card sets traded in.
2. God Deployment: Place gods from your supply onto the board (gods cost troops to deploy).
3. Attack Phase: Invade adjacent territories using standard Risk combat with god modifiers.
4. Miracle Cards: Play miracle cards for special effects during appropriate phases.
5. Fortify: Move troops between connected territories.
6. End of Epoch: Resolve epoch-end effects (e.g., sinking Atlantis events).

Actions

Combat: Standard Risk dice combat with god modifiers. Attacker rolls up to 3 dice; defender rolls up to 2. Highest dice compared; loser removes troops.

God Powers (active on the board):

• God of the Sky: Adds an additional die to the player’s roll during Godswars. Destroying a god during combat allows drawing a Sky miracle card. Sky cards are defensive and activate on opponents’ turns.
• God of War: The attacker wins ties (instead of the defender). Conquering 3+ territories with God of War on the map allows drawing a War miracle card.
• God of Death: All enemy troops killed by the player with Death active are removed from the game entirely instead of going to the underworld.
• Goddess of Magic: Allows the player to re-roll any dice showing 1, whether attacking or defending.

Godswar: When two gods meet in combat, a Godswar occurs. Both gods fight using enhanced rules. The losing god is removed from the board.

Underworld: Troops killed in normal combat (without God of Death present) go to their civilization’s heaven space, then proceed to the underworld. Players can contest territories in the underworld for bonus points.

Atlantis: At a designated epoch, Atlantis sinks. All troops on Atlantis are sent to the underworld. The Atlantis template is removed from the board.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

After 5 epochs, the game ends. Players score points for:

• Territories controlled on the main board
• Continent bonuses
• Territories controlled in the underworld
• Miracle card bonuses
• Remaining god bonuses

The player with the highest total score wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Gods can only exist on the main map; they cannot enter the underworld or heaven.
• Miracle cards have specific timing rules (some are played during your turn, others during opponents’ turns).
• Atlantis sinking is a fixed event that occurs at a specific epoch, destroying all troops on those territories.
• A civilization eliminated from the main board may still have forces in the underworld.
• God deployment costs troops, creating a trade-off between military strength and divine power.
• The underworld provides a second front for scoring that cannot be ignored.

Player Reference

God	Power
Sky	Extra die in Godswar; defensive miracle cards
War	Attacker wins ties; offensive miracle cards
Death	Killed enemies removed from game (no underworld)
Magic	Re-roll dice showing 1

Civilizations: Greek, Celtic, Norse, Egyptian, Babylonian.

Game length: 5 epochs. Highest combined score (main board + underworld + bonuses) wins.