Alliance Version
For 4 Players Playing in Competing Alliances

Your army is camped on a great battlefield. Across from you is your ally’s army. Opposing you both are the armies of your opponents. When the battle begins, your goal is simple: advance your flag until it is adjacent to your teammate’s flag. If you can "unite" your flags, you win the game. Of course the two opposing armies are trying to beat you by uniting their own flags. (You can also win by capturing both of their flags.) You and your teammate secretly plan how you’ll advance your forces and attack your opponents. You’ll decide where on the battlefield you hope to unite your flags, how to confuse your opponents, and where to attack them. Reinforcements will arrive, cannons will fire, cavalry will charge and scouts will make long range strikes. The battle awaits you.

Equipment

• Game Board (use the red 4 Player side)

• 4 sets of Playing Pieces in 4 colors.

Note: The two sets of blue colored Pieces are "allied" and the two sets of red colored Pieces are "allied."

Before Playing for the First Time

Insert the cardboard Tokens inside each Playing Piece as shown in Illustration A. Take care to match the color of each Token with the same colored Playing Piece.

Before the Battle Starts

Place all 20 of your Pieces in front of you. Now select any 13 of your Pieces and place them, one each, on the 13 spaces of your camp. Your Flag Piece MUST be among these 13 Pieces. (You will learn from experience how best to arrange your Pieces, and which ones to include at the start of the game.) During play, you will bring in the remaining 7 Pieces. For now, keep these 7 Pieces in Reserve.

IMPORTANT: When setting up, and during play, take care to make sure your opponents do not see the identity of your Pieces, except when you reveal a Piece involved in an attack.

Pre-Battle Plans

Before the game begins teammates should secretly discuss their "battle plan." It is best to do so in separate rooms. The topics you discuss are up to you, but they should include your plans on how to attack the opponents, how to confuse them of your intentions and - most importantly - where you’ll unite your own Flags to win the game. It’s also a good idea to decide on a code phrase or gesture to use when you think you’re adjacent to your teammate’s Flag, so you won’t have to reveal it if you are mistaken.

How to Play:

Decide which player will move first and then play in turn. On your turn, you may move ONE of your Pieces or attack an opposing Piece.

Note: Should you be unable to do either action, the game is over and you lose.

Moving Your Pieces & How to Attack

In this version, Cannons and Flags move differently (as stated below). For an explanation of how all of the other Pieces move and how they attack, please refer to the other side of this Rules Screen (under 2-Player Lightning Version).

CANNONS - No Rank: "•"

Cannons move one space per turn, except when attacking. When you wish to attack with ("fire") a Cannon, it must move exactly 3 spaces in a straight line and the first two spaces must be vacant. The opposing Piece in the third space, regardless of its rank, is defeated and you capture it. Cannons can fire over lakes, with each lake space counting as one space. Once you attack with a Cannon, it must be removed from the board, but you add it to your Reserves, so you will be able to return it to the board and attack with it again. A Cannon is captured by any piece that attacks it.

YOUR FLAG - No Rank: "F"

Your Flag can advance on the battlefield one space per turn, but is defenseless against any attack. Keep that in mind: any Piece that attacks your Flag captures it. Captured Flags are taken to either one of the opponents’ two Stockades.

Escape: A Flag can move out of a Stockade only if no enemy Piece is standing guard on any of the four adjacent spaces.

Rescue: If you move a Piece to a space adjacent to a Stockade where your Flag (or your ally’s Flag) is held captive, the Flag is rescued and placed immediately on a vacant space in its camp.

Using your Reserves

You may enter one of your Reserve Pieces onto any vacant space in your camp according to these two conditions:

1. Instead of moving on your turn, you may enter a Piece from your Reserve.

2. If you win an attack, as a BONUS, you may enter any one of your Reserve Pieces immediately.

WINNING

You and your ally have two ways of winning: Your two Flags meet on the Game Board or you capture both of your opponents’ Flags.

1. UNITING FLAGS: You move your Flag to a space adjacent to an allied Piece, which you presume is your ally’s Flag: You touch the other Piece and say your code-phrase for "Our Flags Unite". If your ally agrees, the game is over. Shake hands and show the two Flags to your opponents (But if it was a mistake - your ally says that it was not his Flag - play is resumed as if nothing has happened.)

2. CAPTURING FLAGS: The moment you or your ally capture your opponents’ second Flag (their first one already being held in captivity in a Stockade) the game is over.

For a fast-playing 4-player Alliance game, do the following:

SET-UP

Each player starts with 13 Pieces and no Reserves. The 13 Pieces each player will do battle with include: one each of Ranks 3 through 10, 1 Spy, the Flag, 1 Cannon and 2 Scouts. The remaining 7 Pieces of each army are out of the game and are not used.

PLAY

There are two changes:

1. Cannons are not removed when they attack. An attacking Cannon moves to the space vacated by the captured defending Piece and remains in play.

2. Since there are no Reserves, no additional Piece enters play following a successful attack. Once captured, a Piece is out of play.

WINNING

Same as in the 4-Player Alliance Version.

Your army has taken the field against your opponent’s army. Soon, a battle will rage that will decide your fate. You must plan your strategy, advance your forces, and capture the opponent’s Flag before he captures yours! The identity of your forces is hidden from your opponent until either of you attacks. Your forces range from the powerful Marshal (who can only be defeated by the enemy’s spy) to the lowly Scouts. Scouts can move rapidly to discover your opponent’s forces, and they can also disarm the deadly Bombs your opponent will likely place to protect his Flag. The Lightning Version of ULTIMATE STRATEGO® plays quickly because each of you have only 20 pieces on the board, which leads to more "wide open" play. Skillful planning, a good memory, and clever deception are key to your success. Every time you play, the battle will be different!

Equipment

• Game Board (use the green 2 Player side)

• 2 sets of 20 Playing Pieces each. One Player uses either Red set; the other Player uses either Blue set. Each army consists of:

1 Marshal, 1 General, 1 Colonel, 1 Major, 2 Captains ("Cavalry"), 2 Lieutenants, 2 Sergeants, 2 Corporals, 4 Scouts and 1 Spy.

Additionally, each army includes 3 pieces that do not move:

2 Bombs and 1 Flag.

Higher numbers indicate higher rank. The Spy, the Bombs and the Flag have no rank. The Captains, Scouts and Spy have unique privileges.

Before Playing for the First Time:

Insert a cardboard Token inside each playing piece. Take care to match the color of each Token with a same-colored Playing Piece. For example, a dark red Token is placed in a dark red Playing Piece, a light blue Token is placed in a light blue Playing Piece, etc. Refer to Illustration A.

Before the Battle Starts

1. Place the green side of the Game Board on the table with the name ULTIMATE STRATEGO® facing each Player.

2. Place this Rules Card across the middle of the Game Board to form a screen so neither you nor your opponent can see how each other arranges his (or her) Playing Pieces. Refer to Illustration B.

3. Place all 20 of your Pieces off the Game Board in front of you. Now place each one on any vacant space within the four rows of spaces on the Game Board closest to you. Place them so that their printed sides face you.

IMPORTANT: When setting up, and during play, take care to make sure your opponents do not see the identity of your Pieces, (except when you reveal a Piece involved in an attack).

When you and your opponent have finished setting up, remove this screen from the game board.

How to Play:

Decide which player will move first and then play in turn. On your turn, you may move ONE of your Pieces or attack an opposing Piece.

NOTE: If you are unable to do either action, the game is over and you lose.

Moving Your Pieces

1. Pieces may be moved one space per turn, except Cavalry Captains and Scouts (see below). Bombs and the Flag DO NOT move. A Piece may move either to the left, to the right, forward or backwards - but never diagonally. Refer to Illustration C.

2. A Piece may not jump over another piece. Only one Piece may occupy a space at a time.

3. Pieces may not move into the lake spaces, nor may they jump over them.

4. A Piece cannot move back and forth between the same two spaces in three consecutive turns.

5. You can only move one Piece per turn.

Attacking

1. If, at the beginning of your turn, an opponent’s Piece is in an adjacent space you may attack this Piece, if you want to.

Note: Captains and Scouts are an exception. Both may move and attack in the same turn (as explained in the next column, to the right).

2. If you want to attack an adjacent opposing Piece, do so by "tapping" your opponent’s Piece with your Piece and state the rank of your Piece. Your opponent then names the rank of his Piece.

3. The winner of an attack is the Piece of higher rank. In the event of a tie, the attacker wins.

4. If you (the attacker) win, you capture the opponent’s Piece and move your Piece onto the space vacated by the captured Piece. You keep captured opposing Pieces off the board, near you, for the remainder of the game.

5. If your opponent (the defender) wins when you attack, your Piece is captured and kept by your opponent. The defending Piece stays on its space.

A few Pieces have special movement and/or attacking abilities:

CAPTAINS ("Cavalry") - Rank: 6

These horsemen can move two spaces per turn, either in a straight line, or by changing direction after the first space moved. Cavalry may attack as part of its move, but may only attack once per turn. If a Cavalry Piece attacks after moving one space, his turn is over.

SCOUTS - Rank: 2

Scouts may move any number of vacant spaces in a straight line (but not diagonally). A Scout cannot jump over a Piece in its path. A Scout cannot jump over a lake space. Scouts can move and attack another Piece from a great distance on the same turn, provided only empty spaces lie in between the Scout and the Piece being attacked. This makes them powerful threats to opposing Bombs, Spies, and Flags. The Scout is the only Piece which is not defeated if it attacks a Bomb.

SPIES - No Rank: "S"

Spies move just like normal Pieces (one space per turn). The Spy loses to any other Piece it attacks, or is attacked by, except when it attacks another Spy, Flag or an opposing Marshal (Rank: 10). If the spy attacks any of these Pieces, it wins the attack.

BOMBS - No Rank: "•"

Bombs may not move (or attack) once placed on the game board. If any enemy Piece, except a Scout, attacks a Bomb, that Piece is defeated and captured. A Scout survives if it attacks a Bomb. Win or lose, after a battle the Bomb is always out of the game and is retained off the board by its owner.

FLAGS - No Rank: "F"

A Flag cannot move once placed on the game board, so a Flag may never attack. Any Piece that attacks a Flag captures it and wins the game.

Rescue

When you move any of your Pieces onto a square in the opponent’s back row, you may Rescue any Piece from among those previously captured by your opponent. Immediately place the Piece you Rescue on any space on your half of the Game Board. That ends your turn. Note: Scouts may not make a Rescue. You can make two Rescues per game. One Piece cannot make both Rescues.

Winning

You win if you attack (and therefore capture) your opponent’s Flag. You also win if your opponent has no move to make.

This version plays exactly like the Lightning Version, with one important exception. Now you command two allied armies. One is on the battlefield at the start of the game. The other army enters the game one piece at a time, enabling you to add to your attacks or bolster your defense! The object of play is to capture both opposing Flags.

Set-up

Each player commands two color-related armies. Begin by placing all 20 Pieces of one army on the green side of the Game Board, as in the Lightning Version. Keep your second army off the board, in reserve.

Play

Play is exactly like the Lightning Version, except that on each turn, you have the option of moving a Piece on the Game Board, or bringing in a new Piece from your second army. Any new Piece you add to your forces must be placed in a vacant space anywhere in the four rows closest to you. The very first Piece you add to the board MUST be your second army’s flag. You must show it to your opponent to verify that it is the flag before you place it on the board. Naturally, since your opponent will know where this flag is located, you’ll have to be prepared to protect it from the inevitable attack to come! Whenever you win an attack, you earn a bonus - you may place a new Piece on the board at the end of your turn.

Winning

You win if you are the first player to capture both opposing Flags. However, if the opponent has only one Flag on the Game Board and you capture it, you win immediately.