Stratego- Make the correct move!

True to its name, Stratego is a strategic board game, which was launched for the first time in 1961 by the Milton Bradley Company, while its electronic version hit the markets in 1982. Stratego is available in two and four player formats where the players form teams and move their flags adjacent to each other. The team who brings together their flags or who captures their opponents' flags wins the game.

The two player version of Stratego is played on a 10 × 10 square board with 40 pieces for each player. These pieces stand for individual army officers and soldiers in this game of strategy. The basic aim of the player is to locate and capture the opponent's Flag, or to capture as many pieces as possible to corner the opponent all the while protecting your flag. It is a sort of blind strategy game as players cannot see the ranks of each others' pieces, so spying and wrong leads have a crucial role in the game.

There are red and blue pieces and the ranks are imprinted only on one side, making it difficult for the player to identify the specific pieces of his opponent. Each player can move one piece at a time and incase a piece is placed in a square occupied by an opposing piece, their characters are exposed and the weaker piece will be displaced by the stronger piece which will move into its place. If the opposing pieces are of similar ranks, both the pieces will be removed. You should not move pieces into squares already occupied by the same team.

The two middle zones depicted as lakes in the battle filed, are forbidden areas where no player should step in at any time of the game. Players can arrange their 40 pieces in any pattern in the area assigned to them and this strategy has a key role in determining the outcome of the game. You should maintain utmost secrecy in placing your pieces and plan a well balanced approach with the right mix of defensive and offensive measures.

After organizing the armies, you can start moving your men and when you are strategically closer to the enemy, an attack could be launched wherein the ranks would be revealed and the lower-ranking man is captured and removed from the game. The army should be moved with extreme caution as they advance deep into the enemy terrain, always keeping an eye for the deadly bombs that could spell doom to your men. The person who conquers the enemy flag first is the winner.

Strategic planning and cautious advancement holds the key to win this ultimate strategic name of stratego.