Ed's Stratego Site - The Stratego Message Board

May, 2002

Ed,

The history of Stratego won't be complete if you start in 1961. I am from Russia and have never heard the word "Stratego" until about a week ago, when I read it on a box in Toys'R'Us. However, I read it AFTER I realized my dad taught me almost the same game some 20 years ago. The game was NOT sold in the Soviet Union - we made it ourselves from cupboard. Instead of the officer ranks, the pieces were signed "Army", "Division", "Battalion", etc. Also, there was no "attack". Simply, when two pieces were facing each other, they had to declare their ranks, and the lower ranking was removed from the board. The winning piece did not move. My dad called the game "Army". Later, I played it with a school friend, but he knew the game from a different source. He called it "Battle" and taught me the "Attack" rule.

OK, "20 years ago" is not 1961. So I called my dad yesterday and asked him where he learned the game. He said HIS dad told HIM when he was young! He regrets he didn't then ask Grandfather Mark the same question I asked him... Now it is too late. My dad even remembers how he and Grandfather Mark made the pieces from what he calls "trophy cupboard" -- Grandfather brought it from Germany after World War II. This cupboard was stronger than the Soviet kind.

I wonder where the game REALLY came from, and how it ended up owned by Milton Bradley.

Sincerely,

Andrew Feldman

June, 2002

Hi Ed,

Just visited your website for the first time. I have a question about the basic rules of Stratego. I know it is true that if a Spy attacks a Marshal the Marshal is killed. I also know that if any piece attacks a Spy, the Spy is killed. What happens if a Spy attacks any other piece first? Is the Spy killed or the other piece, or both?

This rule has really been troubling me. I would appreciate it if you would clear it up for me. Thank you.

Matt Michalak

June, 2002

Ed,

Great Stratego site. You have posted a procedure for editing initial setup positions for the Accolade program on the Mac, but is there anything equivalent for the PC?

The reason I ask is that most of the setups by the computer are terrible and although it doesn't play too well, it is handicapped from the start. It would be nice to give it a fighting chance.

I anticipate there is no such program. As an alternative, could you send me a typical initial setup saved position?

Thanks,

Mark

June 2002

First of all, you have a fabulous website! I'm really excited about finding it.

I just have a question. My code wheel was chewed up by one of my dogs YEARS ago, and the wheel unlocker I downloaded from your site doesn't work. Every time I try to open it, I receive this error message:

"File Error, Cannot find VBRUN300.DLL"

Then, when I close it, I see:

"Can't run 16-bit Windows program, Cannot find file C:\STRATE~1.EXE (or one of its components). Check to ensure the path and filename are correct and that all required libraries are available."

Yup, that's what it says! So if you could help, that would be great. But if not, don't worry about it.

Thanks.

Andrew

June, 2002

Howdy Ed,

Kept up with your website for quite some time now. I try to stay quiet, seems whenever I talk to anyone online about anything it get misinterpreted. That's enough whining for me though.

Just wanted to let you know that the WSC web address will change from

http://www.zeddweb.com/stratego

http://www.worldstrategoclub.com

beginning July 4th, upon release of the new game. Appreciate your linking. I've been planning to add your link, but have not out of sheer laziness of the thought of updating that blasted Flash Menu. Sorry for that, and thanks for the heads up to the few who actually play at WSC.

Zedd

June, 2002

Ed,

I had forgotten about Stratego for years, but I went to China recently and bought a bunch of games there that I don't understand, including one which turned out to bear a remarkable resemblance to Stratego: a target Flag, mines, ranking officers, pieces concealed from one's opponent, that sort of thing.

If I am reading the characters correctly it's called Lu Zhan Qi, and if the dictionary is to be believed this means Land War Game, which seems appropriate enough. If anyone is interested I can elaborate, or find someone who can show me how to send you pictures. But this is a tangent.

I bought a Stratego set the other day (before even thinking of the possibility of a related website) because I wanted to know how alike the two games are and I still haven't found anyone who can tell me the rules governing the Chinese pieces' behaviors. I got some instruction in China, but it was in Chinese and I speak Chinese well below the level of technical board game banter. I bought Ultimate Stratego because it was that or the Star Wars, and I was under the impression that somewhere inside Ultimate Stratego lurked the old Stratego I played exactly twice in my youth. (Tommy Fleetwood purposely sat across from me with my back to a lamp both times and told me ten years later he could see through my pieces.)

My new game, however, has armies of twenty, and I can't find a mention of this development on your website. There are two Bombs, no Miners, and four Scouts, and the Scouts have apparently been given the Miners' abilities. There are two cavalry Captains who can move two squares instead of one, and can change direction in the process - and those are all the notably different features I can remember off the top of my head. They've also reversed the numbers, as you say, but I wouldn't have known any better.

A half-sized, reconfigured army seems like a pretty substantial revision. Now that I know what the old armies were like, when did this happen? Why? Were the games taking too long? Was there a change of ownership? Was someone trying to modernize, or make random innovations, or something? I'm not seeing it. Oh, and is this mentioned on your website somewhere and I missed it, or do old Stratego hands not like to talk about the new layout, or - something?

I couldn't have been saved anyway, since there's no mention on the box of the army's configuration (there is a picture of the board setup--all right, I could have been saved). I do have the option of playing with two armies, full-on or mid-game recruitment style--& of course the four-person "alliance" game - but now that I've seen your website I want an old, forty-piece army with six Bombs and all that. You've ruined me for my brand-spanking-new Stratego!

I'm also partial to the blank grid. Complain, complain, complain.

Sean

July, 2002

Hello Ed,

Dan here. I e-mailed you at the end of April about the Star Wars edition of Stratego. Sorry its taken so long to get back to you. To take pictures of my copy of the game, I had to use a friend's digital camera. But both of us have had all sorts of computer difficulties the last couple months which has delayed me in getting these to you.

At any rate, here's a whole bunch of photos I took of the game and its packaging. They came out quite a bit darker than I'd hoped. I don't know if you have any photo editing software that will allow you to adjust the brightness, but if you do, that might help. I hope you can use at least a few of these.

Also, my friend used his scanner to scan the instruction booklet for me, as well. I'm also including that. It's full-size, full detail so you can make the most out of it. Hopefully you'll be able to get that posted on your website as you did with the booklet from an earlier edition. :)

Again, hope my contribution to your website helps you out! Thanks again for making such a great website! :)

Dan

July, 2002

Ed,

Great website.

I'm 45 and have been playing Stratego all my life (since 8 or so). I had a longtime friend who used to pull the most outrageous bluffs; really funny.

I just introduced my recent gal to THE game. She LOVES it. I was being capricious to let her win and my Marshal hit one of her Bombs - she howled with laughter. Anyway, she's getting the hang of it. She finally realizes ANYone can kill the Spy and there's only one and how it has to be passive to succeed.

In the meantime I set up the most absurd setup I've ever done and now see it is (almost) on your website as one of the "standards." I had my Flag on the front rank - but insanely - NOT behind the lake! I put powerful guys around it and moved out from there. At the end, my frustrated lady friend was given five picks to guess where my Flag was - and failed. Even she, as a beginner, would not be so cheeky.

There was the time she sealed her Marshal in with her Flag.

So it is a fun game. My older cousin gave me his old wooden version some years ago since he knew I liked it and would take care of it. I don't use it much for the "tip" reason, but always show it to people and will use it if they wish.

Like chess and bowling, I am not the greatest but like to play. In fact, I reason the better you want to be at something, the less you see of the process (fun) and more of empty statistics. After all, if you bowl all strikes, you get to roll the ball only 50% as much!

Don in FL

August, 2002

Hello Ed,

I'm having some troubles finding Stratego resources on the internet, and was hoping you could help me.

I'm looking for a scanned image of the Stratego board, as well as small pictures of the image on the game pieces (of the Marshal, Bomb, Flag etc.). The pictures I have in mind would be from a particular version of Stratego, although I couldn't tell you offhand which version it is, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the version is probably the most common one (if this means anything to you). This version came with the plastic red and blue pieces.

Anyhow, I've searched the internet for days, and found nothing which suits my needs, and figured you might be able to give me some direction.

If you are wondering what I need these images for, I have completed a 3D OpenGL version of Stratego, but the pieces and board look so tacky because I've just colored the board green and blue (for land and water) and written the pieces' names on their backs. If I had the pictures, I could texture map them and the game would look much much better and far more professional.

If you have any suggestions at all, please let me know!

Thanks in advance,

James McPhail

August, 2002

Thanks for your website. I am 50 years old, and just went through a storage bin of some childhood artifacts of mine and discovered a Stratego set (Fine Edition/brown playing board). I do not have a set of rules, however, so I went on the web to find them. Not only did I find rules, I found the entire history of the game!!

I have an eight-year-old son who can't wait to get started with this game, and we can now proceed. The only problem, which you identified, is that some of the wooden pieces have slightly different varnishes, which over time have become much more apparent. I hope my son doesn't discover that too quickly!

Best wishes,

David in New York City

August, 2002

Hello Ed,

My husband is a big Stratego fan. As a child he played the board game and now he is a big fan of the PC game Stratego for Windows 95/98.

We have a problem. We bought a new computer with Windows XP but the game isn't working on the XP program. We looked it up at the XP site, but no results.

Do you know if there is a solution for this problem, or maybe a new release of the Stratego PC game?

Thanks,

Marion and Jos Dudzik Brunssum
the Netherlands

See my FAQ Section for the answer to this question. - Ed

August, 2002

Stratego help:

I have an adversary who has adopted a strategy I can't seem to crack. He focuses entirely on finding my Marshal, General, and Colonels and swapping with me (trades a Marshal for a Marshal, a General for a General, etc.). Then he outguns me with the lower pieces. He uses Scouts to find out where my high power pieces are and then relentlessly hunts them down.

Any defensive tactics would be appreciated. It's driving me nuts.

Jeff

August, 2002

Hello

I went to your Stratego site and it looks very nice. I have a link for you to add to your links section...my friend and I have programmed a custom Stratego server and client. It is currently up and running at

mud.iflipout.com port 8855

I have attached a .gif for you to set up the link...the address to link it to is:

http://buddytech.netfirms.com/stratego.html

Please put some text above it like "Free Stratego server" if you add it to your website.

Thank you very much. Hope to hear from you.

Gregory Hedrick

August, 2002

Hi Ed

Terrific website!

Here is a Canadian wrinkle on the history.

My son, Leland, found this game (see pics below) in a second hand store. The maker is "Chieftain" (model CP 24) in Canada under a 1959 license from Jumbo (Hausemann nv Hotte, Amsterdam). This game has no date on it, but the boy in the picture looks to be from the mid/late 60's. The men are round European type with no numbers, but the board has the info in both English and French (as does the box). Unfortunately, the booklet is missing.

I thought this might be a good addition to your website!

Thanks

Bill Crowther
Winfield B.C. Canada

September, 2002

Greetings Mr. Collins,

Nice website.

I'm a bit in a hurry so this will be a short.

Maybe something to look into - I recently played a game called Stratego - Tournament. The person who owns it and who I played it with got the game as a free gift with a crate of beer from the brewer of "Hertog Jan" (Duke Jan) beer. It was developed for the Dutch Brewery by some agency in the series "indentity games". It did hold the MB logo. The game was placed in the middle ages. The board looks the same as Stratego (sort of a luxury travel edition/so you get the picture of how big it is). But the figures are different and some have a different way of movement on the board (archer eq. Scout/knight (eq. Major/Colonel/knight on horse eq. the highest (can't' come up with the English word for it)/tower eq. Bomb/duke eq. Flag/lady eq. Spy.and you only have 12 (from the head) pieces. The pieces, by the way, are plastic towers where you slide in a thick cardboard picture.

Hope to have helped you on your quest.

Tony Schippers

September, 2002

Great website! I'm a big fan of the game.

You might be interested to know I have version of the game where the pieces are the same round ones that came in the early '80s British set you purchased yourself, however the artwork and packaging are totally different. I have never seen another set like it. It was purchased in the Christiansen toy store in Brussels, Belgium in 1982. It is in rough shape after moving with a diplomatic family around the world, but I recently refurbished it and I still have all the pieces which are in perfect shape.

Jeremy

September, 2002

Hello Stratego-webmaster,

The Schnuffel-Stratego-Team has a new internet-presentation with a new URL. You can find us at

http://www.schnuffel-team.de

Please change the link to our website on your homepage. Thank you very much.

Best regards.

Mark Blockhaus, Frank van Thiel

September, 2002

Ed,

Is there a way to get "parts" of a 1961 Stratego game (not the wooden pieces) without buying an entire 1961 game? I have an original, but the cover is in pretty bad shape, and there's one other little piece of cardboard from the inside that seems to be missing. I was wondering if it was possible to reinstate the game I have, rather than purchasing another original set in its entirety. Thought if anyone would know, you would.

By the way, your website is great - it confirmed the set gathering dust (and other toxins probably) in my closet is indeed an original 1961 set. (I got it for Christmas when I was 9, and was sure it was a first timer even back then.) Surprisingly, there is currently a 1961 set for sale on eBay that is indeed not from 1961. (It has the Wonderbread-freckle-face family cover.) I was sure there was something wrong - that's how I wound up at your website.

Thanks for any info you can provide.

Ed (also)

October, 2002

Something pretty important to add to your website.

Milton Bradley has released a "Nostalgia Games Series" version of Stratego. It comes in a snazzy wooden box with some basic Stratego history and plastic storage trays for the pieces. The back of the box describes the set with:

"The planning... the attack... the capture! Play the classic game of battlefield strategy -- the way you remember it -- with the Nostalgia edition of the Stratego game. Inside this collectible wooden box you get vintage game board art based upon the early '60s version, classic metallic-printed army tokens, a Stratego game history, and the original ranking system -- the Marshal is #1!"

The blue tokens have silver printing and the red tokens have gold printing. The set comes with the original version of the rules (the Scout cannot move and strike in the same turn and the winning piece takes the losing piece's square). The artwork on the board, however, is not from the '60s version as much as it's based on the '70s version. On both the pieces and the board, the Major and the Captain face the same direction.

Anywhoo, thought you might be interested in this, since it appears to be fairly close to what you say your first Stratego set was like - it has the original ranking system, and it doesn't have the labels on the pieces (which everyone hates). I picked it up for $16.99 at a Target in southern Indiana...

Take care!

P.S. The artwork on the front of the wooden box resembles on the right half of the 1986 Stratego box... Might help if you're gonna go look for this... :)

October, 2002

Ed,

First, let me say what a fine website you have. It is very attractive and entertaining.

In your Miscellaneous Section, you have a link to a page where you discuss two different sets of wooden pieces. In your History Section you discuss the original game and the FINE Edition. Upon perusing the photos you have included there, it seems to me the top row of wooden pieces were the ones included in the FINE Edition and the bottom row were included in the original game.

October, 2002

Hi Ed,

Love your website! A wonderful tribute to a fantastic game.

I thought you might be interested in a themed Stratego set that I made.... LORD OF THE RINGS.

Here's a few pics. If you feel that they are worth posting to your website, feel free to use them.

Here are the piece assignments:

Fellowship Dark Forces
----------- ------------

Flag    Ring                  Destruction of the Ring
Bomb    Cave                  Cave
S       Gollum                Grima Wormtongue
1       Gandalf               Saruman
2       Elrond                Balrog
3       Aragorn               Nazgul (2)
        Boromir
4       Theoden               Nazgul (3)
        Faramir
        Legolas
5       Gimli                 Nazgul (4)
        Rider of Rohan (3)
6       Merry                 Shelob
        Pippin                Uruk-Hai (3)
        Frodo
        Sam
7       Elf (4)               Wolf Riders (4)
8       Darf (5)              Troll (5)
9       Men of Gondor (8)     Orcs (8)

Tom Perconti

October, 2002

Hi, my name is Carl.

I've just discovered your website and it's great. It brings back many memories of playing when I was younger. The trouble was, my mates often got bored of the game and I had no one to play. Can you tell me the best site to play online? I don't have the disk but would consider getting it, unless there is a site where I can play without it. I've tried the download from your website but there never seems to be anyone there. By the way I'm in the UK so my timezone is GMT.

Regards.

Carl

October, 2002

Dear Ed,

Your website is awesome. Stratego is my favorite board game and it's nice to know someone is a big enough fan of the game to have a website. Your site is very helpful for strategy.

I have a question about a game I recently played. As it came down to a very few amount of pieces left on the board (I was playing by the the new version, 10 being the highest), neither my opponent nor I was able to end the game by capturing the movable pieces. He had a 4 and a 6 left (who was surrounded by Bombs, unable to move) and I had a 4 and an 8 left.

We obviously couldn't end the game, so who won? I wasn't sure if I was the victor having better pieces, or if it was a tie because the game could not be won. We had a long discussion about it and couldn't decide.

Thanks.

Ben Tully

Hi Ben,

Thanks for the warm comments on my Stratego site.

If BOTH of your opponent's two pieces were surrounded by his Bombs and if he was unable to move either of them, then YOU won the game. However, if he was able to move at least one of his two remaining pieces, then it sounds as if your game ended in a draw - It doesn't mean anything that your two remaining pieces were slightly stronger than his two pieces. - Ed

October, 2002

Hi Ed,

I just thought I'd say thanks for creating this website. It's totally cool.

I do have a problem though. I'm writing from Australia where I discovered the game about three years ago. A bunch of friends got together to stay at a mate's house in the country. Actually it was his folk's house and they happen to be very wealthy. Everyone was running around looking at statues and priceless pieces of art when Jase suddenly decided to show us his game's room. Jase's mum had saved every game he'd ever been given and the games were wrapped in plastic and stacked neatly from floor to ceiling. Nick and I started going through piles of games while the rest of the crew ran around the house partying. We found a few to have a go at and one of them was Stratego. I think we played for seven hours that night. It was intense and as challenging as any chess game I've ever played. We borrowed the game, although Jase's mum was not happy about part of the childhood archive leaving the premises.

From that point we religiously played Stratego every Friday arvo (that's 'afternoon' in Australian) at the local pub while throwing down free frozen margaritas... until that day came... that horrible day when it seemed like our world was ending. Yep, Jase's mum made him take the game back. Sounds like we're thirteen years old instead of thirty! Oh mum! I'm sure you'll suddenly raise your level of empathy when I say that the game was the same model that you started on! That's right, the early '70s version!

Nick, my Stratego rival, is threatening to carve a set because we can't find it anywhere! I told him there'd be a Stratego site on the net but Nick was so down over Stratego-deprivation that he's at his wits end and can't see things in a positive light. I need a set badly...I don't think Nick can last much longer. He's started sounding like some old has-been, reminiscing over epic games we had in the past. Do you know where I could buy one in Australia, preferably Sydney or Melbourne? It may save the life of a depressed Stratego-addict.

Thanks,

G-Funk (Australia)

November, 2002

Ed,

I've got a stupid question regarding the move of the Spy. I fully understand the Spy can attack the Marshal. It's not clear from our rule sheet as to whether or not the Spy can attack other pieces. Can you fill me in on this?

Thanks.

Mike

Hi Mike,

The Spy can certainly attack them... but it won't win any of the battles. If any officer strikes the Spy the Spy dies and if the Spy strikes any officer (other than the Marshal) the Spy also meets his death.

Only when the Spy strikes the Marshal does the Spy win. - Ed

November, 2002

Dear Ed,

My name is Jacques Johan Mogendorff. I am the grandson of the inventor of ‘Stratego’ – or copier of the principles of L’Attaque, as Thierry Depaulis so pointedly states in an e-mail on your site dated September 2001 – and can only add a comment or two and story to the “not complete” history of the game.

As we were told, ‘Opa Jacques’ (Grandpa Jacques) sat together with his two sons (my father and uncle) and came up with a game with the soldier and officer names (or faces or silhouettes) printed on the back of little chairs. Like the ones in a boardroom, a vertical part with the image, and four legs to prevent it from falling over. Soon afterward these were replaced by flat wooden pieces, red and blue, in the shape of a castle tower with crenels or ‘battlements’. Later again, the plastic pieces took over…

Also, other and more dialed elements of the final setup and layout must have been altered, the name invented, whilst one cannot disagree that the basics do have a strong similarity with the ones of L’Attaque.

In any case, indeed the game became very popular, already then, and – due to their need for money, as they were left bereft by the W.W.II and the Warcamps – Mogendorff sold the game to Jumbo.

Without doubt, the story that we were told must have been coloured somewhat. I’m glad to see that the game lives on, that you made a great Stratego site and that so many people play on or have very fond memories from playing the game in their childhood.

With best regards,

Jacques Mogendorff
The Netherlands

November, 2002

Hello,

Today I found a rather peculiar Stratego game in a garage-sale. It has a completely red box with a green label on the front named 'Stratego' and in Dutch 'Vol spanning en geestdrift' (full of tension and enthusiasm), Uitgave Smeets & Schippers A'dam. The game contains cardboard figures on small green wooden standings. The board (chess-like squares, part yellow, part green, part orange with a green border) has no lakes but 'Niemandsland.'

Do you know how old this game could be? Is it worth anything?

Thank you in advance.

Marc Van den Branden
Zwijndrecht, Belgium, Europe

November, 2002

Ed,

I just recently rediscovered Stratego after finding my classic board gathering dust in my attic. What fun it is to realize again why it is one of the most sophisticated and challenging board games ever made, and what a joy to find a website like yours with great feedback and suggestions from players much better than me.

I am the consumer investigator for the CBS television affiliate in Memphis. Every November, I join more than 50 other consumer reporters from across the nation along with thousands of school children between the ages of 2 & 12 in the Great American Toy Test, where the kids of America determine the 18 best toys for the holiday season. This year, for the first time in my five years as a reporter for the toy test, a board game made the top 18: STAR WARS STRATEGO. Kids loved it because of the Star Wars spin, but their teachers loved it for the strategy, cunning and... let's face it -- it reminded them of their Stratego days when they were kids!

Just thought you'd like to know! You'll be able to follow my coverage of the Great American Toy Test on our website at www.wreg.com after the Thanksgiving holidays.

Andy Wise
Consumer Investigator
WREG News Channel 3 (CBS)
Memphis, Tennessee

November, 2002

Hello,

After searching the web, you seemed like the perfect person to ask this question: I have the Stratego CD ROM and I’m having trouble installing it on my Windows XP computer. I’ve tried everything and I can’t seem to figure it out. Even the program capability wizard won’t work.

Any help you can give me would be appreciated. Thanks.

Jason Frost

See my FAQ Section for the answer to this question. - Ed

December, 2002

Ed,

I'm a first time visitor to your website and would like to say you did a nice job with it.

I was searching for info on Stratego tournaments in the US and I am having trouble finding any. Could you point me in the right direction? I am visually impaired so surfing the net can sometimes be a bit daunting. Also, I purchased the Stratego game on CD a few years back but it is ridiculously easy to beat. Do you know if there is a more difficult version?

Stratego was always my favorite game and I thought I would search for a Net presence and it appears there is a strong one which is good to see. Keep up the good work.

Mike Merrett
Revere, MA

December, 2002

Hi Ed,

I've been reading your Message Board and I've noticed most writers having been playing the game for years. I only discovered the game about a year ago. When my friend got it out, I was instantly hooked. I quickly searched to find a place to play online and came across your website. (A great site I might add, keep up the good work.)

I have a question for everyone out there. in the Stratego game we played with "Miners" were called "sappers". I was quite confused when reading your site to find everyone called them Miners. Anyway, I'd like to hear if in anyone's game they are called sappers. I think the version we played is was made in '95, and is in English.

Thanks again.

Nick (The_General)

December, 2002

Hi Ed,

You can't imagine how refreshing was to read your website and learn about my favorite board game.

I was born in Lebanon in 1977, and I guess I played the first Stratego game in 1985. The game was our best companion when we used to spend days (sometimes weeks) locked in a small room underground to avoid shells and rockets.

Unfortunately, I lost my Stratego game. It burned when we had to flee our house in a hurry as some militia men were attacking our area. The last time I played Stratego, was at a friend's place in 1993. Since then I have traveled and lived in a dozen of countries, and now I am settled in France. I have searched for Stratego in all game stores, in different countries and I couldn't find any. Did they stop producing the game?

By the way, I used to play with a set with round-shaped pieces, it was quite efficient because it was very difficult to topple them. I have also played with a version that I couldn't find in your website. The pieces were made of plastic, a thin rectangular shape with the image of the piece on one side (without a number). The plastic rectangle rests on a black round circular support that serves as a base of the piece.

Are you aware whether Stratego is still being produced? Any distributors in France?

Thanks a lot for the beautiful site.

Regards,

Ghassan

December, 2002

Merry Christmas Ed,

I figure you've probably been too busy to update your website lately so I thought tell you about a Stratego game I played at NIR (it's back up) awhile back. You can file this under "You can't make this up."

Anyway, I was playing this guy and I found two Bombs in a diagonal line near the center of the board. I Scouted the next diagonal position and sure enough, another Bomb. So I asked him in the chat window, "Did you get your plan from Ed's Stratego Site? After he said yes, I replied, "It's mine."

I don't know if he believed me, but I did trounce him in that game.

Mike Rowles

December, 2002

Great website, Ed.

Can anyone please enlighten me on the reason the numbers have changed? I grew up playing the game where the "1" was the most powerful, while the new games (and from looking at the "history" pages, the very old games) have it the other way around. My ten-year-old niece received the game for Christmas and she kicked my butt because I could not get used to the new ranking arrangement. (That, and she was a way better player.)

Bobby Brigida

See my FAQ Section for the answer to this question. - Ed

January, 2003

Hi,

I just discovered your website. Excellent work!

My son has been enjoying my old Stratego set when we visit his grandma's house, so I decided to give him his own set for Christmas. I had my choice of the current set or for $1.00 more I could purchase the Nostalgia Edition.

Having read on your website about the stickers and the 'reverse' numbering that are a part of the current set, I'm delighted to say I purchased the Nostalgia Edition. This edition is nearly identical to my old set from the early '70s. One exception is the board folds twice (to fit into the square wooden box).

This is as good a set as has ever been produced. The wooden box is very sturdy and will protect the game much better than the cardboard boxes that always eventually split. The plastic pieces have embossed-silver officers and the numbering is 'right.'

I noticed on your message board that a lot of people overseas are looking for sets. Stratego sets are carried by Amazon.com, which ships worldwide. You could sign up as an Amazon affiliate and include a link on your website and make a little money in the process. Unfortunately, they carry the basic set, the Star Wars Edition, and Ultimate Stratego... but not the Nostalgia Edition which is the only one I would recommend. Perhaps we can convince them otherwise.

Thanks.

Brandt Redd

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