Stratego Strategy Guide

Good play in a Stratego-style game comes down to two things: protecting what you know and finding out what you don't. The ranks are fixed and the rules are simple, so the player who manages information better usually wins. This guide walks through the whole game, from the setup to the last few moves, with ideas you can try straight away against the computer.

Stratego Strategy for Your Setup

Your setup decides how the first twenty moves go. It is the one moment where you have complete control, so it pays to think about it instead of placing pieces at random.

Where to put the Flag

The back row is the usual home for the Flag, because an attacker has to cross the whole board to reach it. Corners are the easiest to protect: only two squares touch a corner, so two Bombs seal it completely. The downside is that experienced opponents check the corners first. A Flag in the middle of the back row needs more protection but is harder to guess. Whatever you choose, avoid putting the Flag where your strongest pieces obviously cluster, because that points straight at it.

How to use your six Bombs

Use two or three Bombs right next to the Flag and the rest somewhere else. Bombs away from the Flag do two jobs: they block lanes so enemy Scouts and attackers cannot pour through, and they create a second "fortress" that looks like it hides the Flag. An opponent who wastes Miners on a decoy group will struggle later. Bombs on the front row block a lane from the start but reveal themselves the first time something bumps into them.

What goes on the front row

The front row meets the enemy first. A mix works best: a few Scouts to probe, a couple of solid middle ranks such as Captains and Lieutenants to hold ground, and perhaps one strong piece in a lane you plan to attack. Avoid placing your Marshal and General side by side; a single enemy Scout that finds one of them tells the opponent where both are. Keep the Spy one square behind or beside your General so it can strike an enemy Marshal that comes to take the General.

For complete formations built on these ideas, including defensive, aggressive and decoy styles, browse our Stratego setups you can load and play.

Using Your Scouts

You have eight Scouts, more than any other piece, and they are your best source of information. A Scout that runs down an open lane and hits an unknown piece will almost always lose, but it forces that piece to reveal its rank. Trading a Scout for the location of the enemy General or Marshal is an excellent deal.

• Probe pieces that have moved early and aggressively; they are often strong pieces looking for prey.
• Use Scouts to finish off revealed low-ranked pieces, such as a Spy or a Miner, from a distance.
• Remember that a Scout reveals itself when it moves more than one square. Moving it one square at a time keeps it hidden.
• Keep two or three Scouts for the endgame, when long open lines make them dangerous Flag hunters.

Finding the Enemy's High Ranks

Every battle reveals both pieces, and pieces that have moved can never be Bombs or the Flag. Combining those two facts tells you a lot. In the game, moved enemy pieces carry a small dot, revealed ones stay face up, and you can tag any hidden piece with your own guess so you do not lose track.

• Watch who attacks. A hidden piece that confidently walks into your pieces is usually a high rank. Low ranks rarely attack unknown targets.
• Count what is gone. The captured trays show which ranks are off the board. If the enemy Marshal has been traded, your General becomes the strongest piece left and can attack almost freely.
• Find the Spy before you commit the Marshal. Until the enemy Spy is revealed or captured, any unknown piece next to your Marshal could be it. Approach unknown pieces with lower ranks first.
• Bluff back. Moving a modest piece as if it were strong can make the opponent retreat. The computer on Medium and Hard reacts to what it has seen, so a convincing bluff can buy you tempo.

Trading Pieces Wisely

A trade is good when you give up less than you take, but count information too. Exchanging your Captain for an unknown piece that turns out to be a Colonel is a win. Exchanging equal ranks is useful when you are ahead, because it simplifies the board, and harmful when you are behind. Avoid throwing Miners into the early fighting: you have only five, and you need some of them later to reach a Flag behind Bombs.

Stratego Endgame Strategy

The endgame starts when most of the strong pieces are gone and the board opens up. Here the small details win games.

• Keep Miners alive. If the enemy Flag is surrounded by Bombs, only a Miner can get through. Losing your last Miner can make a winning position impossible to finish.
• Look for unmoved pieces. The Flag and Bombs never move, so the enemy pieces that have stayed still all game are your targets. Back-row groups of unmoved pieces are the most likely Flag spots.
• Do not run out of movable pieces. A player who has no piece able to move loses, even with the Flag safe. Keep a spare movable piece away from danger.
• Mind the draw count. After 200 moves in a row without an attack, the game is drawn. If you are ahead, keep attacking; the game warns you when 20 quiet moves are left.
• Chasing has limits. You may not chase one piece around the same circle twice, and a piece may not shuttle between two squares more than three times in a row. Corner a fleeing piece against a lake or the board edge instead.

Practise Against the Computer

The quickest way to improve is to play. Start on Easy to get used to the pieces, move up to Medium once you win regularly, and try Hard when you want an opponent that estimates your hidden ranks from what it has seen. The full rules are on the Stratego rules page, and every formation on the setups page loads into the game with one click.