If you were around in the early 1960s, one of the biggest crazes to hit the era was the game Stratego. The game is difficult to compare to any other game, except maybe for chess because it is played with pieces that are ranked, just like in chess, but aside from that very loose similarity, the games are nothing alike. The truth is, there has never really been a game like Stratego since.
Milton Bradley was one of the greatest makers of games during the time and Stratego was no exception. The basic premise of the game was two armies battling against each other, one red and one blue. The piece values were military in rank, but not the kind of military ranks that we are used to in modern times. The lowest ranking piece is the spy. After that they are ranked as follows; scout, miner, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, major, colonel, general and marshall. The higher piece always captures the lower piece with one exception. The spy, if it attacks the marshall first, removes the marshall from the board, but only if he attacks first.
The players take turns moving one piece at a time over the board, which is a battle field. The object of the game is to capture the enemies flag. The flag can be placed anywhere on the board and so since the pieces' ranks are hidden from the opponent, including the flags, you have to try to guess where on the board the flag is. To help protect the flag, each player is also given 6 bombs. If any piece hits a bomb it is blown up, with one exception, the miner. The bombs and the flags cannot be moved. All other pieces can be moved one square at a time, either forward, backward, left or right, except for the scout, which can move any number of open spaces, but cannot jump over a piece.
In the course of attacking the attacking player picks up his piece and hits the piece he is attacking with it. At this time both players reveal the ranks of their respective pieces. The higher rank wins. If both pieces are the same rank then they are both removed from the game. Again, if the spy hits the marshall, the marshall is removed, but it the marshall strikes first the spy is removed.
Some strategy, since the players are looking for the bombs in order to find out where the flag is, is to place some bombs at locations not near the flag so as to throw the other opponent off. Also, it is a good idea to place some high ranking officers around the flag as well.
Because the pieces can be set up any way the player likes, the number of setups are virtually unlimited. As a matter of fact, there are Stratego sites online where they give tips on various setups that have proven to be very effective.
Stratego was one of the most enjoyable and exciting games back in the 1960s and still is even today.
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Toys
