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Rules of Stratego

To Start the Game

1. Find a Skype friend to play with.
2. One player takes the Red (Pirates) and the other the Blue (Wizards) playing pieces. Red starts first.
3. Each player gets an army of several pieces, in order of rank from high to low, consisting of these moveable pieces:
Marshal - rank 10, move range 1
General - rank 9, move range 1
Colonel - rank 8, move range 1
Major - rank 7, move range 1
Captain - rank 6, move range 1
Lieuntenant - rank 5, move range 1
Sergeant - rank 4, move range 1
Miner - rank 3, move range 1
Scout - rank 2, move range 10
Spy - rank 1, move range 1
Bomb - move range 0
Flag - move range 0
Note that the moveable pieces have a number in the upper right corner to designate the order of rank. Each army also has 2 Bombs and 1 Flag, which are not moveable.
4. The Players place pieces in selected squares on their half of the board. Two middle rows are left unoccupied at the start of the game.
5. Read the rules for Movement and Striking in order to plan placement of the pieces.

Rules for Movement

1. Turns alternate, first Red then Blue.
2. A piece moves from square to square, one square at a time (Exception: Scout- see rule 8). A piece may be moved forward, backward or sideward, but not diagonally.
3. Note that there are two lakes in the center of the board, which contain no squares. Pieces must move around lakes and cannot move where there is no square.
4. Two pieces may not occupy the same square at the same time,
5. A piece may not move through a square occupied by a piece nor jump over a piece.
6. Only one piece may be moved in each turn.
7. The Flag and the Bomb pieces cannot be moved. Once these pieces are placed at the start of the game they must remain in that square.
8. The Scout may move any number of open squares forward, backward, or sideward in a straight line if the player desires. This movement, of course, then reveals to the opponent the value of that piece. Therefore, the player may choose to move the Scout only one square in his turn, so as to keep the Scout's identity hidden. The Scout is valuable for probing the opponent's positions.
9. Once a piece had been moved to a square and the hand removed, it cannot be moved back to its original position in that turn.
10. Pieces cannot be moved back and forth between the same 2 squares in 3 consecutive turns.
11. A player must either move or strike in his turn.

Rules for Strike or Attack

1. When a red and a blue piece occupy adjoining squares either back to back, side to side, or face to face, they are in a position to strike. No diagonal strikes can be made.
2. A player may either move or strike on his/her turn. He/She cannot do both. The strike ends the turn. After pieces have finished the strike move, the player who was struck has his/her turn to move or strike.
3. It is not required to strike when two opposing pieces are in position. A player may decide to strike, whenever he/she desires.
4. Either player may strike (on his/her turn); not only the one who moved their piece into position.
5. The piece with the lower rank is lost and removed from the board. The winning higher-ranking piece is then moved immediately into the empty square formerly occupied by the losing piece.
6. When equal ranks are struck, then both pieces are lost and removed from the board.
7. A Marshal removes a General, a General removes a Colonel and a Colonel removes a Major and so on down to the Spy, which is the lowest ranking piece.
8. The Spy, however, has the special privilege of being able to remove only the Marshal provided he/she strikes first. That is, if the Spy strikes the Marshal on his/her turn, the Marshal is removed. However, if the Marshal strikes first, the Spy is removed. All other pieces remove the Spy regardless of who strikes first.
9. When any piece (except a Miner) strikes a Bomb (Bang!) that piece is lost and is removed from the board. The Bomb does not move into the empty square, but remains in its original position at all times. When a Miner strikes a Bomb, the Bomb is lost and the Miner moves in to the unoccupied square.
10. A Bomb cannot strike, but rather must wait until a moveable piece strikes it.
11. Remember, the Flag can never be moved.

To End the Game

When a player strikes his/her opponent's Flag, the game ends and he/she is the winner. Note:If a player cannot move a piece or strike in his/her turn, they must give up and declare their opponent the winner.