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| Now recognized as the #1 Stratego site on the Internet! |
THE STRATEGO MESSAGE BOARD
SECTION 7
February, 2004 Ed, I just visited your site for the first time and honestly loved it. I was here for at least an hour, reading some strategies and piece placement tips. Interestingly enough, I just recently became involved with the game, about a week ago. I tried to develop some regular strategies of myself, and so far have been quite successful with them. I will be sending some of them to you soon, you can be sure! Still in awe of your site's greatness. Ryan Elliott |
March, 2004 I just found this blurb from the San Francisco Chronicle...
Peter Hartlaub Wow! Thanks Peter. - Ed |
March, 2004 Hello Ed, First of all my compliments for your Stratego site. I use to play Stratego with friends when I was in my teens and I have enjoyed it enormously. Recently I have visited a Toy Museum in Italy and I was surprised to see a very old Stratego board dating the early 1900s. The figure of the pieces are printed on a carton, the cartons are then clipped on metal stands. Names on the board are all in French. So it would be interesting to understand this earlier part of Stratego history definitely it did not start in 1961. Best Regards, Corrado |
March, 2004 Hi Ed, Great site! I have a very old game of Stratego I just purchased at a yard sale. It is made by Jumbo, and has wooden pieces and a very old box. The writing looks to be German or Dutch on the box. I thought you might like to see this for your web site info. Looks to be from the 30's or 40's. Feel free to copy the pics for your web site :) You can see pics here:
Jennifer (an old time player of Stratego!) |
March, 2004 G'day Ed, I bought a second hand computer Stratego game, however it did not come with instructions, it sat in my cupboard for a year or so. Yesterday, in a second hand shop I found an Australian edition in good condition. (I'm not sure if it is 1956 or 1986. It has plastic pieces so it is probably '86.) Anyway, my daughter and soon found the instructions and we enjoyed two games last night. Now I am going to download the computer edition. If you like I will photograph and send you the cover, since it does not look like any I have seen on your site. All the best. Chris |
April, 2004 Ed, I just re-visited your site - great job! I recently purchased a Stratego set for my daughter's 11th birthday, and I noted your gripes about the new sets. I never had this game as a youngster (but my wife did - used to whip up on her brothers regularly), however, I did play a lot of AH battle games as a teen, and it does not strike me at all odd that the piece values are inverted from their historical RANK order - the new numbers are equivalent to an ATTACK strength; the higher value wins! My daughters have no trouble with this either, as they are both experienced Pokemon masters! Anyway, you may have heard this line form others, but I just thought I'd add my dos centavos, and also let you hear again that your work is appreciated. TimZ |
April, 2004 Hello, First of all I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Stefan and I'm from the Netherlands. I have a question and I wanted to say something about a special Dutch version of Stratego. My compliments for your site! It's really nice ;-) . Well, my question. I have heard that their would be a very special edition of Stratego, which you can compare with the Franklin Mint edition of Monopoly. Do you know something about this version and do you have perhaps an photo? I also wanted to tell you something about a special Dutch version of the game. Below you can see a picture. It's a commercial edition. It was for free when you purchased a couple of beers. Both parties only have 12 pieces to play with and the rules are changed a little.
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April, 2004 Hi Ed - GREAT site! I didn't read all of the posted messages, but I wanted to throw in a little Stratego trivia. Hope it didn't already get posted. In the TV series "The X-Files" there is a scene where Fox Mulder's sister is abducted by aliens. Right before the abduction, the two of them are shown playing Stratego on their living room floor. If you have ever played this classic board game, you recognize it instantly. There's a pretty good chance that if you liked this show, you'd like a game like Stratego and vice versa. Again, awesome website. Marlon Schmelling |
June, 2004 Dear Mr. Collins, Allow us to introduce ourselves; we are three computer-science student from the Netherlands. Currently we are finishing one of our school projects. In this project we are making a Stratego game as a computer game. The game is called JStratego3D. We've made it really nice using an Artificial Intelligence Opponent, entertaining music, multilingual support and an 3D interface. We've used some of your initial piece setup on your webpage for our AI to use. We've also used your piece logo's. We hope you don't mind. So why did we sent you an e-mail? We would just like you to know that your site helped a great deal in the development of this game. We already mentioned the logo's and piece setups, but also the rules where very helpful. We would like you to try our game and tell us what you think about it. We have a website at which you can download the game. We hope you would take a look at Hoping to be hearing from you soon. Tsunami
Group |
June, 2004 Hi Ed, Just a quick e-mail to say, "Wow, what a site!" I make regular visits even though it isn't updated that often. I smile when I read about the complaints and opinions on the ranking and numbering system. To my knowledge, and as you may have noticed yourself, European versions published by Jumbo have never used numbers to rank the pieces! The set I have from 1991 uses only pictures, with stars to signify the higher ranking pieces. I believe you have such a set - the one with the cross against the Marshal. I've been trying to find out the date of the graphics used on these pieces, as they are still used today in Europe. You may wish to note this on your site, though I realize the history is that of the game in the US. The Star Wars and Lord of the Rings versions which I have use numbers though, but I think it makes things easier and is necessary in those cases. Please keep up the good work! Kevin
Fairbrother |
July, 2004 I just visited your fantastic Stratego site. I was amazed to see that in your history of the game you dated the beginnings to 1961. That may be true for the United States, but I used to play it fanatically in the Netherlands when I was around 11 or 12, which would have been around 1947-48. The pieces were colorfully printed strips of cardboard on a wooden base. Alexander Silbiger |
July, 2004 Hello, I do not know if I overlooked your site but I did not notice the clone Reveal your Rank on your site. If not here is a software review of the program for Windows, PocketPC, and WindowsCE.
Thanks. John |
July, 2004 The following url is to download a Stratego clone for Macintosh: You may find it useful for your website. John |
August, 2004 Hi, I've just discovered your Stratego' website. It's amazing! I never imagined so much possibilities to change this great game. I would like to ask you two things:
I hope you will understand soon, but with such a wonderful website I understand you receive many new mails every day. Thanks you very much. Nicolas
Nachtergaele |
September, 2004 Ed, I just found your Stratego site, as I was looking for information on this game I had so much fun with as a kid. My wife and I just recently moved, and we've found ourselves with lots of children among our new neighbors, so we're trying to think of fun things to do with them. I remember playing countless games of Stratego with one of my nephews, and we both loved it. Anyway, I have a pretty simple question: I'm a professional woodworker (link below), and I was wondering it you think there might be a market for super deluxe Stratego games with much larger wooden pieces and a wooden board. (I'm thinking of a 24x24-inch board, and pieces between 3 and 4 inches tall.) I would have to call the game something else, obviously, to keep from running into legal problems, but I could easily come up with several variants of the rules (and possibly pieces), and then let it be known that you can also play plain old Stratego with the set. I haven't thought a lot about pricing, but I'm sure I could make and sell these for a lot less than I could chess sets, thanks to the pieces all being the same size and shape. I'm not sure how I'd do the images on the pieces--possibly burned in? Thanks for your fun site, and please let me know what you think of the idea when you get a chance. Take care, Lou |
October, 2004 Greetings, I just wanted to send a note of appreciation to you in regards to your Stratego web site. I started playing in the late seventies with my grandfather and those games remain to this day as some of my favorite gaming experiences. I still play games (Advanced Squad Leader mainly) but haven't had a regular Stratego game in a long time. A few years ago I had a weekly opponent but now my games are all on the computer (vs. computer as compared to player vs. player). Since you've noted and researched the history (good job! Bravo!) I was wondering if you knew the reasoning for changing the numbering system? I was invited to play it once and was completely turned off by it. Why did they change this? I'm currently searching for copies of the 1975-85 version in mint (dare I say shrink-wrapped?) copy of the game. My original copy is somewhere in my storage unit and at the moment not very accessible - it would require unpacking my entire unit to find! I'm interested in starting a collection of other sets as well. I recently found a few folks who showed an interest in playing the game again and aside from having a mint set I'd like to find one that's in good condition for traveling with it. My friends who are interested in playing the game again aren't very internet friendly so I'll most likely assist them in acquiring sets as well. They both want the old sets although they're willing to play on the board I prefer. I hope to hear from you soon and thank you for such a wonderful web site! Edward J. Kemp |
October, 2004 Greetings yet again! I hope you don't mind the numerous e-mails but it's nice to find another Stratego fan and especially one who knows as much as you do! I've learned a lot from your history page and I wasn't aware of several sets existence. I have a few more comments (if I could unsend the last two e-mails I would compile them! Sorry!) I thought you'd be interested in more information regarding the Michael Graves Edition. Michael Graves is actually an architect and his web site is I already sent him an e-mail and I think we all should asking if he'd consider making a new version that utilizes the original and preferred numbering system. I really want to buy the set he sells but I can't stand the current numbering system as I was raised with the original (as mentioned) and to this day when I have played Stratego on the PC or in person I refuse to play the new system as it annoys me. I'd support a letter writing campaign as long as it was done by the proper people. I've seen too many people do more harm than good by one person sending a rude letter when they didn't get their way. Sad but true! Naturally, I sent a very courteous and professional e-mail request. I thought I'd let you know his web address (his e-mail addresses are there as well as there are different ones for each department) I'd like to hear what you think. I'll try not to send any more e-mails until I hear back from you so I don't overload your mailbox :-) but I would like to discuss a few Stratego projects with you. Thanks again! Your web site is great! Edward J. Kemp |
February, 2005
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April, 2005
I've never played Stratego, but as
kids growing up in England we used to play with my father's 1930s
L'Attaque and Tri-Tactics sets. They had the numbers what I would
call the 'proper' way round - with 10 for Field Marshal etc.
L'Attaque was great, but Tri-Tactics took too long and was
over-complicated.
The pieces are made of cardboard on
metal stands... and have been improved with the odd coffee stain.
Enjoyed your site - especially the
hints.
Peter |
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June, 2005 Hello Mr.Collins! First I want to congratulate you for your fabulous STRATEGO website. It's really well designed and informative. I'd like to show you two game
variants that I have. There is the official Greek "NEA
EKDOZI STRATEGO" version with red and black(!) plastic playing
pieces with picture stickers on it. It's quite a cheap production
where the pieces easily fall down. Instructions are in Greek
only. It is dated 1997. Norman Pelz
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July, 2005 Hi, Todd |
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July, 2005 Hi Ed,
Heh. So do I, actually.
The person responsible for those was the game's producer at Accolade,
who decided (relatively late in the project, as I recall) that we
needed to include a bunch of canned opening setups. I can take credit
for "Corner Fortress" and "Blitzkrieg!", which
were my preferred defensive & offensive setups at the time (with
some minor variations), but the rest were his contributions. Will have
to include that note on my page. ; ) Ken McLeod |
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July, 2005 Dear Ed,
Please contact me regarding the game Stratego.
Our office is located in Portland Oregon. We represent the
estate of Gunter Elkan. Our deceased client copyrighted
Strategy in the US and Canada. We need a Stratego game expert
to assist us with our case. Could you please contact my office
so that we could discuss the case.
Sincerely,
Thompson & Bogran |
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July, 2005 Hi Ed, My
name is Alejandro López. I
am a 33 year old computer programmer from Ensenada This
game has given me great satisfaction. It developed my intelligence, my
savvy. It gave me a taste for competition and a lot of nail biting
victories. Recently
I was chatting with an old friend from junior high school via an
internet Messenger conversation and remembered that he was the only
one that ever beat me consistently. I immediately felt compelled to
search the word Stratego on the internet, and your site was the first
one to come up. I almost cried. This game is one of the
things I truly have enjoyed in my life. I
noticed you have a piece-setup section. I do remember the initial
setup being one of the key pieces of the game. My style was that of
reconnaissance, then control and opening supply lines and then the
final assault. I was fairly incommunicado from the rest of the world
during my playing years. I wonder how my strategies compare with
that of the rest of the worlds? Well, with your permission I
will go ahead and take a look at your site and find out. Hey,
have you ever thought of an online Stratego game? Regards, Alejandro |
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July, 2005 Very nice web site.
Note on the bottom of
the pieces box that there are four different languages (English,
German, French and Swiss?). I suspect this game was made in
Europe somewhere. The small line at the bottom of the game board
below the Stratego title reads: Wettig ged. - Marque dep. (with
an accent over e in dep) - Gesetzl. gesch. - Regd. 77543 - 209823 -
778395. None of that appears to be in English except for
possibly Regd. being an abbreviation for Registered which could also
be the abbreviation for that word in other languages. I think
the three numbers could be three different registrations rather than
one. That line also appears on the lid. There is
nothing at all indicating who made the game except for a small
elephant logo near the bottom of the lid with the word
"Jumbo" on his side. You can see this logo on the scan
of the game board as well. The bottom of
the box is blank except for this logo again. Nothing at all on
the end and side panels of the lid except for the Stratego logo on
each end. Mike
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July, 2005
Hi Ed !
First of all my congratulations for
your Stratego site! It is absolutely great and I have respect
for the time and energy that you did put into this piece of art.
I myself was born in 1960 and have
played Statego for a long time now. I only recently started to
collect the different versions.
I read Mike's message (directly
above) concerning his questions
about his recently purchased Stratego game. I can only tell him what
I know or think to know:
Mike, you've got a Dutch (from
Holland, the Netherlands) Stratego game with wooden pieces. The game
was published by Jumbo but I am not sure of the exact year - I think
early 1960. I have the same version but without the original
manual.
On the bottom of the
box which contain the pieces, the ranking is shown - above the
ranking in English and Dutch, underneath the ranking in French and
German. MB was licensed by Jumbo (= Hausemann & Hötte) to
introduce Stratego in the States.
For the exact story of
Stratego, just read the messages in Ed's Stratego Site. Even a
grandson of the Dutch "inventor" sent Ed a message!
Hopefully this answers a few of your
questions.
Regards from the Netherlands and good
luck,
Rob |
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