Q&A for How to Play Stratego

Yes. All pieces (aside from the flag and bombs, which cannot move) can move sideways.

A Spy beats the Marshall, which is the highest ranked troop. If the Marshall attacks it, however, it dies.

No, it can only beat the Marshal.

If you attack with any piece and lose, your opponent's piece does not move up.

No, you only get to look once.

The spotter is treated as a spy, so it can take down another spy or a nine.

Your pieces may go in any direction, but they may not jump over one another. It is helpful to have a mixture of troops everywhere so you are ready for anything.

Bombs cannot normally move. The spy is defeated if he tries to take on a piece other than the 1/9 piece.

It looks like you might have an older edition of the game. The Spy is a fairly recent addition to Stratego, so if there isn't one then it's probably just an old copy of Stratego that someone put a newer copy of the rules with.

They can find out what the piece is when the enemy attacks another piece. When the enemy says what their number is, you can attack them with a scout on the opportunity. Also, they can use the process of elimination if there are only a few pieces left.

The bomb cannot move at all using the official rules. You might be using an unofficial set of rules though, in which case the answer would depend upon what you and the other player decide.

The scout only beats the spy, but its special ability is to move however many squares you want in any direction. It may not hop, and it is helpful not to use its ability, since it gives away that it's a scout. These were included to help you see what is on your opponent's front lines.

The winner of the battle is whoever attacked first.

The two blank pieces are used to split the board into three pathways. This prevents you from losing the entire game immediately if you lose one.

They are there to help organize the pieces. When you take a miner, number 3, for example, put it in the number 3 spot. The rankings (numbers) of the pieces are shown in the top right of the pieces.

The spy only lives in combat if the spy attacks the marshal. If the marshal (or any other piece) attacks, the spy dies.

In standard Stratego, the bomb lives. In a variant called "exploding bombs" the bomb is also taken off the board.

Never. No piece is allowed to step off the board, including into the rivers. They serve as a way to create bottlenecks, forced pathways, as well as to use the natural terrain as a defensive obstacle. To be clear, a standard 10 x 10 board has 40 pieces for each opponent, placed at will by each player on the first 4 rows of their side, where the remaining two rows have two 4 x 4 water areas spaced evenly between the edges, leaving three pathways. Those water spaces cannot be walked on, not by any piece.

No, you do not. The other person gets to make his or her next move as normal.

Bombs and flags do not require ranks. Bombs can only be disarmed by an 8, and finding the flag results in the end of the game.

Scouts can move forward, backward, or sideways across any number of open spaces. They reveal their identity when moving across multiple zones, so to keep it hidden, move one zone per turn. Use scouts to locate the opponent's flag and high-ranking pieces, and to move powerful pieces quickly to counter threats.

No, when a miner, also known as the 6 piece, attacks a bomb, only the bomb and the miner are removed.

Pieces cannot move through the lake; they must maneuver around it using the surrounding squares.

You can place the flag anywhere within your zone at the start of the game, but it's generally advisable to place it on the back rank for safety.

When two pieces of the same rank engage, both are removed from the game board.

The '1' piece is the lowest ranked piece in Stratego. It can only capture an opposing '1' piece; when two '1' pieces encounter each other, both are removed from the game board.

Placing all your bombs around your flag is a legal move, but it is a double-edged sword. While it creates a strong defensive wall, experienced opponents often suspect that kind of layout and will probe accordingly. A more unpredictable bomb arrangement can make your flag harder to find, and mixing strong pieces and traps into the zone adds more bluff and depth to your defense.

Your Marshal piece is eliminated if an opponent's Spy attacks it, or if you attack an opponent's Bomb. If your Marshal attacks another Marshal piece, both Marshals are eliminated.

You have a Flag, Bombs, a Spy, and pieces numbered 1 through 10. The ranks are: 1 - Marshal, 2 - General, 3 - Colonel, 4 - Major, 5 - Captain, 6 - Lieutenant, 7 - Sergeant, 8 - Miner, 9 - Scout, and 10 - Spy. Note that the Spy may also be listed as the 'S' piece in some versions of the game.

Yes, if your opponent has no legal moves left in Stratego, you win the game. This typically occurs when all their movable pieces are captured or blocked by bombs, preventing any valid attacks or maneuvers. It is a legitimate, though less common, path to victory.