BISQUE 🦞

Overview

Bisque is a Risk-style territory control game set in the Peconic Bay region of eastern Long Island. Players are lobster captains ("Captains") competing to dominate the bay by planting traps across 26 territories — towns, islands, and water bodies. The first captain to wipe out all rivals (or, in solo mode, the surviving human) wins.

The Map

26 territories grouped into 6 regions:

• North Fork (6) — Riverhead, Cutchogue, Mattituck, Southold, Greenport, Orient. Bonus +4.
• South Fork West (3) — Southampton, Bridgehampton, North Haven. Bonus +3.
• South Fork East (4) — Sag Harbor, East Hampton, Amagansett, Montauk. Bonus +3.
• The Islands (5) — S.I. Heights, Mashomack, Gardiners Is., Plum Island, Robins Island. Bonus +3.
• Inner Bays (5) — Peconic Bay, Little Peconic, Noyack Bay, S.I. Sound, NW Harbor. Bonus +3.
• Outer Waters (3) — Gardiners Bay, Block Island Sound, Fishers Is. Bonus +2.

Adjacencies follow real geography. Most nodes connect to 2–3 neighbors; a couple of bay hubs connect to 4. The small islands (Gardiners Is., Plum, Robins, Fishers) each have exactly 2 connections.

Setup

Choose 2 Captains, 3 Captains, or 4 Captains, and either 1 Player vs AI or All Human (hotseat). Territories are randomly distributed:

• 2 captains: 11 territories each, 4 neutral.
• 3 captains: 8 each, 2 neutral.
• 4 captains: 6 each, 2 neutral.

Each captain starts with 20 traps total — 1 placed automatically on each owned territory at setup, the rest distributed randomly across their holdings. Neutral territories start with 2 traps each and never reinforce or attack.

Each Turn (3 phases)

1. Deploy — You receive new traps to place on territories you already own. Reinforcement count = max(3, owned÷3) plus a full-region bonus if you own every territory in a group (+4 for North Fork, +3 for SF West/East/Islands/Inner Bays, +2 for Outer Waters). Click your territories to drop traps one at a time.

2. Hauling (Attack) — Click one of your territories with at least 2 traps to select it as the source, then click an adjacent enemy or neutral territory to attack. Combat is dice-based:

• Attacker rolls up to 3 dice (= min(3, source traps − 1)).
• Defender rolls up to 2 dice (= min(2, defender traps)).
• Highest die vs. highest die, second-highest vs. second-highest. Defender wins ties.
• Each loss removes one trap from that side.

If the defender is reduced to 0 traps, the attacker conquers the territory and moves up to (attacker dice rolled) traps in. You can attack as many times as you like, switching sources, until you click End Hauling.

3. Fortify — Move traps from any of your territories (with ≥2 traps) to an adjacent friendly territory. Half (rounded down, minimum 1) of the source's traps move over. You may repeat this as many times as you like; click End Fortify when you're done.

Eliminating Captains and Winning

When a captain loses their last territory they are eliminated and out for the rest of the game. The last captain standing wins. In 1 Player mode, you win if you eliminate every AI rival; you lose if you are eliminated yourself.

Opening (First 1–2 Turns)

• Look at the random territory distribution. Identify the group with the fewest territories owned by enemies — that's your first conquest target. Outer Waters (3 territories), South Fork West (3), and South Fork East (4) are the cheapest groups to lock down.
• Don't spread your initial deployments evenly. Stack 4–5 traps on a single border territory in your target region so you can attack on turn 1.
• If you start with several connected territories, prioritize defending the chokepoints (the territories with only 1–2 enemy neighbors).

Reinforcement Math

• Base reinforcements = max(3, territories÷3). Below 9 territories you're stuck at the 3 minimum — get to 9+ as fast as possible for the first marginal increase.
• Region bonuses are huge: holding all 6 North Fork towns gives +4 traps every turn forever. The bonus pays for itself within 2–3 turns.
• Compare a 3-territory grab in Outer Waters (+2 bonus) vs. a 6-territory North Fork sweep (+4): Outer Waters is faster and worth almost as much per turn.

Region Priorities

• Outer Waters (+2): only 3 territories, all connected, easy to defend — the fastest first bonus. Grab this if you start with even one of: Gardiners Bay, Block Is. Sound, Fishers Is.
• South Fork West (+3): 3 territories on a single linear chain. Easy to hold but only 2 chokepoint borders. A great second bonus.
• The Islands (+3): 5 territories, but two of them (Plum, Robins) are isolated dead-ends and only have 2 connections. Hard to lose if you camp Mashomack and S.I. Heights.
• North Fork (+4): highest bonus but 6 territories along a linear chain — 5 borders to defend. Worth it only if you can secure both ends.
• SF East (+3): 4 territories ending at Montauk, but Montauk has the Block Is. Sound link — an attack vector you have to babysit.
• Inner Bays (+3): 5 water territories, the most connected region — lots of borders. Avoid trying to hold this whole group; pick off pieces instead.

Combat Math

• 3 attacker vs. 2 defender dice slightly favors the attacker. Don't attack with fewer dice unless you have to — always try to roll 3 attacker dice (need 4+ traps in source).
• The defender wins ties. A 2-defender stack is roughly even with a 3-attacker stack. Stacks of 3+ defenders are very hard to dislodge.
• If you must attack a 3+ defender, build your source up to 6–7 traps first.
• Long attack chains lose traps to attrition. Plan your conquest order so each successive attack starts with at least 4 traps after the previous move-in.

Chokepoints & Defense

• The dead-end islands (Plum, Robins, Fishers, Gardiners Is.) are perfect anchors — only 2 neighbors each, easy to wall off with a small garrison.
• Riverhead is the only land bridge connecting North Fork to South Fork. Hold it and you split the entire western map.
• Stack big defensive piles on territories with the most enemy neighbors (e.g., Noyack Bay touches 4 things). Leave the safe interior at 1–2 traps.

Fortify Smart

• Fortify is your only way to move traps without combat — spend it on the territory you'll attack from next turn.
• Half-move means it pays to stockpile big stacks before fortifying. Moving from a 9-stack gives you 4 traps; from a 3-stack only 1.
• Don't fortify out of safe interior territories you might need to defend later (e.g., a flank against the AI).

Multiplayer Dynamics (3–4 captains)

• The leader gets piled on. Stay second or third in territory count until you can knock someone out in a single turn.
• Eliminating a captain in one turn is huge: you absorb their position and deny them future reinforcement.
• Don't leave a wounded enemy alive across two turns — a captain with 1–2 territories will be obliterated by whoever attacks first, but if you don't finish them, the opponent gets the territory.

Endgame

• Once you control 2+ full regions, your reinforcement income compounds. Switch from expansion to methodical elimination.
• Save fortify moves to consolidate giant stacks (12+) and walk them across the map to crush the last enemy stronghold.
• Watch for "kingmaker" situations — if two opponents are both close to elimination, attack the one whose territories you actually want.