This is a fun game for two players, and as the title implies- it is a strategy game. And the goal of the game is pretty simple- there are two armies, Red and Blue- and the goal of each side is to capture the other team’s flag before the other team does. I have a buddy that I used to play this with all the time.

To start the game, each side gets 40 army pieces, all with different ranks- Marshal, General, Colonel, Majors, Captains, Lieutenants, Sergeants, Miners, Scouts, and 1 spy. Each side also gets 6 bombs, and 1 flag. The bombs and flag are not moveable pieces. Each players strategize where they put their pieces, 10 per row, 4 rows deep.

Just like in chess, there are rules for moving and striking. Each soldier can move 1 piece forward, backwards, or sideways, but NOT diagonally. There is one exception- the Scout can move any number of spaces, forwards, backwards, or sideways. A player can move or strike during their turn, but cannot do both.

What you are trying to do is fight your way through the other team’s army to get to the flag, all while trying to avoid strategically placed bombs. Speaking of the bombs, they can be diffused and removed- but only if a miner diffuses it. And how are battles won, you may ask?

As i mentioned at the start, the soldiers have different ranks. from 1 to 9 (1 being the highest rank). During the battles, the highest rank wins. For example, if you have a General (rank 2) fight a Sergeant (rank 4), the General will win. But when you have equal ranks, such as two Lieutenants (rank 7) fighting- they both lose and “die”. The Spy (rank S) is special. It can only defeat the highest rank, the Marshal (rank 1), but only if the spy strikes first. In any other battle, regardless of who attacks first, the spy loses. With all that said, the more higher-ranking soldiers you remove (kill), the higher your chance of winning the game becomes.

I think that’s pretty much the gist of how to play. It’s a fun game and i hope to get to play it again some day!