A simple plan.
A hidden army.

What is the objective of Stratego?

Capture your opponent's Flag, or leave them unable to make a legal move or attack. You do not need to capture every opposing piece. A player with the stronger remaining army can still lose if their Flag is exposed.

The hidden information is central: you can see where enemy pieces stand, but their identities face their owner. Attacking reveals the ranks involved. Remembering those discoveries is part of playing well.

How to set up the classic board

The classic battlefield is a 10 × 10 grid with two lakes in the middle. Each lake covers four squares and cannot be entered. Each player places 40 pieces in the four rows nearest them, one piece per square. Leave the two middle rows empty. Keep ranks hidden from the other player.

Each army contains one Flag, six Bombs and 33 mobile pieces. Red moves first in the publisher instructions used here. You choose your own initial arrangement; there is no chess-style fixed starting position.

See the setup guide for practical ways to give your pieces room to move.

What can you do on a turn?

Take one action with one piece: move to an empty square or attack an opposing piece. Most mobile pieces travel one square forward, backward, left or right. They cannot move diagonally, jump over pieces, enter a lake or land on a friendly piece. Flags and Bombs never move.

When two pieces meet

An attack targets an opposing piece along a legal attack direction. Reveal both identities. Normally the higher number wins. The losing piece leaves the board; a winning attacker occupies the defender's square. A winning defender stays where it was. If the ranks are equal, remove both pieces.

A move into empty space does not also give you a second attack. Scouts have longer straight-line reach, subject to the rules supplied with your edition.

The three specialist rules to remember

• Scout (2): moves along any number of clear squares in one straight orthogonal line. It cannot jump over a piece or lake. A long move reveals that it is a Scout.
• Miner (3): defeats a Bomb when attacking it. Other attacking mobile pieces lose to a Bomb.
• Spy (S): defeats the Marshal only if the Spy attacks first. When the Marshal attacks the Spy, the Marshal wins.

The PlayMonster rules explicitly allow a Scout to move and attack in the same straight line. Our practice tool follows that convention. Use the booklet for your own physical set when resolving an edition-specific dispute.

The complete rank chart shows every piece and its classic count.

What is the two-square rule?

The publisher booklets used here prohibit a piece moving back and forth between the same two squares in three consecutive turns. This limits repetitive pursuit. For organized play, use the current event rules for exact repetition and chasing adjudication; a short beginner guide cannot replace those procedures.

Our local practice adaptation does not enforce the tournament chase or two-square rule. It is built to teach movement, rank comparisons and Flag capture, with an explicit 300-move draw limit.

A good first-game routine

1. Choose a Flag location with protection and space for your other pieces to leave.
2. Place at least one Scout where it can investigate a lane.
3. Keep a Miner available instead of risking all of them early.
4. After an attack, remember the surviving piece and its square.
5. Before moving a strong piece, consider the information the move reveals.

Try the 10-piece practice duel, then use the official online destination for the full service.