re: Grand Risk
Sweet! Woulda loved to be there.
A friend of mine and I copied the Map of Middle Earth freehand on a piece of posterboard, worked out "country" borders and "continent" divisions -- including the number of points of entry, which is one criterion for difficulty to take and hold, and bonus army allotment -- and played Risk on that.
Mordor became the equivalent of Risk's South America: easy to take, worth two bonus armies, but only two ways out -- the Black Gate and the Morgul Stair.