Don't Be Bored, Game! Trivia Quiz

Answer: 80

In a classic game each player has 40 pieces at his disposal. There are two players so the game starts with 80 pieces. The game is played on a square board divided in 10 times 10 spaces. Each player is free to place his pieces wherever he wants as long as it is on the last four lines of his side of the board.

The placement of the pieces will for a large part determine the strategy. The pieces of each player are distinguishable only by their colour. Each player can only see the rank of his own pieces, until a piece makes an attack or is attacked.

In a classic game of Stratego the players play with red or blue pieces.

Answer: Bombs and the flag

Flags and bombs are the only pieces that can't move. The goal of the game is to capture your opponent's flag. Since bombs can take out any attacking piece except one it may be prudent to hide your flag behind bombs.

Answer: No

In the middle of the board there are two zones, each consisting of two by two spaces, that are inaccessible for all units. In a classic game these zones are shown as lakes. These zones create choke points in the middle of the board.

Answer: No

No, pieces can only move left, right, up and down. Most pieces can only move one space at the time to an adjacent space. They can't go back and forth between the same spaces for more than three consecutive turns, either.

Answer: Scout

Only a scout can move more than one space per turn, provided it moves along the same horizontal or vertical line. It can't jump over an enemy piece either. Sometimes it can be advantageous to move a scout at one space per turn to trick your opponent into believing it is a higher ranked piece. Scouts can be very useful near the end of the game to discover the rank of an attacking piece, to locate enemy bombs or even capture your opponent's flag.

Answer: Sapper

When a piece attacks an enemy bomb that piece is destroyed and removed from the board. The only exception to that rule is the sapper (sometimes called miner). When a sapper attacks an enemy bomb that bomb is removed from the board. Beware that there are six enemy bombs and there are only five sappers at your disposal, so you'd better guard your sappers carefully.

Answer: The lieutenant is removed from the board

There are 12 different pieces in the game. Most pieces have a rank (bombs and the flag are special pieces). At the start of the game each player has:

1 marshal: rank 10
1 general: rank 9
2 colonels: rank 8
3 majors: rank 7
4 captains: rank 6
4 lieutenants: rank 5
4 sergeants: rank 4
5 sappers: rank 3
8 scouts: rank 2
1 spy: rank 1
6 bombs
1 flag

When a piece moves into a space occupied by an enemy piece the highest ranked piece wins the battle regardless whether it is the attacker or defender (the spy is a special case). In this case my captain outranks my opponent's lieutenant. The enemy lieutenant is removed from the board, my captain now occupies that space. In case the attacking piece is the lowest in rank the attacking piece is removed but the defender stays in its own space.

Answer: Both majors are removed from the board

In case a piece attacks an enemy piece with the same rank both pieces are removed from the board, regardless who was the attacker or defender. If a player already has an advantage attacking pieces with the same rank is a good tactic to maintain that advantage.

Answer: No

The spy is a special case. Although it has the lowest rank in the game it can take out the enemy marshal. But beware: a spy can only defeat a marshal if the spy makes the attack. When a spy is attacked by the enemy marshal it is the spy that is removed from the board. Since the spy has the lowest rank it is also removed when it attacks, or is attacked by any other piece.

This means that the spy must be well protected and move carefully throughout the game.

Answer: Yes, when neither flag is captured and my opponent has no more movable pieces left

In most cases the game is won when a player captures the flag of his opponent. However, it may happen that the enemy flag is hidden behind bombs and all your sappers are already removed from the board. In that case it is no longer possible to take the enemy flag.

The only other way to win is to capture all your opponent's movable pieces. Of course you also win when you do still have sappers and your opponent runs out of pieces before you take his flag. In case the game ends up in a situation where neither player has a realistic chance of winning players can always agree to call it a draw.