View source for Stratego

==Gameplay==
{{How-to|section=section|date=March 2026}}[[File:Stratego.png|right|thumb|250px|Computer software version of ''Stratego'']]

Players alternate moving; red moves first. The right to move first does not significantly affect game play ([[First-move advantage in chess|unlike chess]]). Each player moves one piece per turn. A player must move a piece in their turn; one cannot skip a turn. 

Two zones in the middle of the board, each 2×2, cannot be entered by either player's pieces at any time. They are shown as lakes on the battlefield and serve as [[choke point]]s to make frontal assaults less direct.

The game can be won by capturing the opponent's ''Flag'' or all of their moveable pieces. It is possible to have ranked pieces that are not moveable because they are trapped behind ''bomb''s. In unusual cases, it is possible to draw, for example, when both players' flags are protected by bombs and each player has one remaining piece which is not a miner.

The average game has 381 moves. The number of legal positions is 10<sup>115</sup>. The number of possible games is 10<sup>535</sup>.<ref name="ArtsStratego">{{cite thesis | author = A.F.C. Arts | title = Competitive Play in Stratego | year = 2010 | url = https://project.dke.maastrichtuniversity.nl/games/files/msc/Arts_thesis.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140306093926/https://project.dke.maastrichtuniversity.nl/games/files/msc/Arts_thesis.pdf | archive-date = 2014-03-06 | url-status = live }}</ref>  ''Stratego'' has many more moves and possible board states than other familiar games such as [[chess]] and [[backgammon]]; however, unlike those games where a single bad move at any point may result in loss of the game, most moves in ''Stratego'' are inconsequential as players think in "games not moves".<ref>{{Cite web |last=de Boer |first=Vincent |date=November 2007 |title=Invincible: A Strategy Bot |url=http://www.kbs.twi.tudelft.nl/docs/MSc/2007/deBoer/thesis.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=2022-04-14 |website=TU Delft |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110124223439/http://www.kbs.twi.tudelft.nl/docs/MSc/2007/deBoer/thesis.pdf |archive-date=2011-01-24 }}</ref>

=== Rules of movement ===

All movable pieces, with the exception of the ''Scout'', may move only one step to any adjacent space vertically or horizontally (but not diagonally).<ref name=Stratego-1961/>{{rp|Movement:2}} A piece may not move onto a space occupied by a like-color piece.<ref name=Stratego-1961/>{{rp|Movement:4;5}}  ''Bomb'' and ''Flag'' pieces are not moveable.<ref name=Stratego-1961/>{{rp|Movement:7}} The ''Scout'' may move any number of spaces in a straight line (such as the [[Rook (chess)|rook]] in chess).<ref name=Stratego-1961/>{{rp|Movement:8}} In the older versions of ''Stratego'' the ''Scout'' could not move and strike in the same turn;<ref name=Stratego-1961/>{{rp|Movement:8}}<ref name=StrategoClassic-2002/> in newer versions this was allowed.<ref name=Stratego-1996/> Even before that, sanctioned play usually amended the original ''Scout'' movement to allow moving and striking in the same turn because it facilitates gameplay.

No piece can move back and forth between the same two spaces for more than three consecutive turns (two square rule).<ref name=Stratego-1961>{{cite web |url=https://imgur.com/gallery/oyyNQ3y/ |title=Rules of Stratego |publisher=Milton Bradley |date=1961}}</ref>{{rp|Movement:10}} Nor can a piece endlessly chase an opposing piece it has no hope of attacking (more square rule).

When a player wants to attack, they "strike" by touching an opposing piece with their piece or by moving it onto the square the opposing piece occupies. Both players then reveal their piece's rank; the weaker piece (see exceptions below) is removed from the board.<ref name=Stratego-1961/>{{rp|Attack:5}} If the engaging pieces are of equal rank, both are removed.<ref name=Stratego-1961/>{{rp|Attack:7}} A piece may not move onto a square already occupied unless it attacks. The original rules also contained a provision that following a strike, the winning piece immediately occupies the space vacated by the losing piece.{{efn |However, due to a misprint, this meant that when the winning piece is the struck piece, it moves out of position to take the space previously occupied by the striker.<ref name=Stratego-1961/> The rules were amended later to make it clear that when the winning piece is the struck (defending) piece, it remains in place.<ref name=Stratego-1996/>}}<ref name=Stratego-1961/>{{rp|Attack:6}}

Two pieces have special attack powers. One special piece is the ''Bomb'' which only ''Miners'' can defuse. It immediately eliminates any other piece striking it without being destroyed itself.<ref name=Stratego-1961/>{{rp|Attack:10}} Each player also has one ''Spy'', which succeeds only if it attacks the ''Marshal'' or the ''Flag''. If the ''Spy'' attacks any other piece, or is attacked by any piece (including the ''Marshal''), the ''Spy'' is defeated.<ref name=Stratego-1961/>{{rp|Attack:9}}

=== Recording the game ===
Competitive play does not include recording the game, unlike chess.  The game is fast-paced, no standard notation exists, and players keep their initial setups secret, so recording {{boardgloss|over the board|over-the-board}} games is impractical.

However, digital interfaces such as web-based gaming interfaces may have a facility for recording, replaying and downloading the game. Those interfaces use an algebraic-style notation that numbers the rows ('ranks') 1 to 10 from bottom to top and the columns ('files') A to J from left to right.  Alternately, a few interfaces designate the files as A to K, omitting 'I'.  Moves are recorded as source square followed by destination square separated by a "-" (move) or "x" (strike).  Revealed pieces on strikes precede the square designation, and may be by either rank name or rank number for brevity, for example "major B2xcaptain B3". The bottom half of the board is by default considered to be the 'red' side, and the top half the 'blue' side.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

===Strategy===
Unlike [[chess]], ''Stratego'' is a game of [[imperfect information]].  In addition to calculated sequences of moves, this gives rise to aspects of [[The Art of War|battle psychology]] such as concealment, bluffing, lying in wait and guessing.

There are also strategic and tactical elements in the initial setup of the pieces.  Stylistic preferences ("aggressive" vs "defensive") also enter into setup.