Optimal Defensive Strategies in One-Dimensional RISK
Darren Glass, Todd W. Neller · Mathematics Magazine · 2015
SummaryWe consider a one-dimensional version of the board game RISK and discuss the problem of how a defending player might choose to distribute his armies along a chain of territories in order to maximize the probability of survival. In particular, we analyze a Markov chain model of this situation and run computer simulations in order to make conjectures as to the optimal strategies. The latter sections of the paper analyze this strategy rigorously and use results on recurrence relations and probability theory in order to prove a related result.