Strategia is an extension to the Milton Bradley game Stratego, and while Stratego is a good test of one's ability to move an infantry, Strategia adds a Navy, an Air Force, and heavy armor to complete the modern day triad of waging war.

The object of the game is the same as Stratego - to capture your opponent's flag!

A summary of the strengths of Strategia include the following:

• If we label the normal Stratego board as the "land grid", Strategia has an attaching "ocean grid" which extends the battle to the high seas.

• Strategia adds the ability to quickly move the infantry from your rear ranks to the front lines. This is done by the aggressive capture of various "ports" on the ocean grid. Once a port is captured, the infantry can be transferred to a docked ship and then back to the land grid in as little as two moves.

• While the existing ranks of the infantry remain unchanged from the original game - Strategia adds an Air Force, which dramatically limits the common head-on attacking approach of your opponent's Marshal, General and Colonials. Moving one square in any direction over land or water, an Air Force fighter can capture these executive officers by flying into their square. This forces these officers into their proper, and realistic, positions in the rear ranks and makes the end game much more exciting. The lower ranks including the Scout, the Miner, and the Sergeant can destroy these Air Force units, which creates a new and totally different strategic balance to the game. It also empowers the middle ranks to a much greater level than ever before. This balance essentially eliminates the common complaint in Stratego of "useless" or "throw-away" ranks.

• Because your Navy is trying to capture strategic ports for infantry mobility while your Air Force is guarding against senior officer advancement, it's common for opposing air and ocean elements to fight each other. Air-to-air dog fighting and ship-to-ship bombardments are common and become dramatic as various combinations of ships and planes form and break into individual squadrons, battle groups or even a large task force.

• Tanks and artillery are used for blocking and tactical advancement. Your ability to place and keep your armor will greatly enhance your forward mobility and safe retreat capabilities.

• Other highlights of Strategia include the movement of infantry inside tanks and trucks, landing and launching aircraft from an aircraft carrier, surface to air and surface to surface engagements, tank battles, ship movements through the land grid lakes, infantry fighting on the ocean grid islands, submarine battles including the launch of torpedoes and depth charges, and optional rules for shortening the average length of a game from four hours to about three hours.
  

A complete set of rules is available to anyone interested in expanding their Stratego-war-playing abilities to the limit. The rules are free of charge and will be sent via e-mail, in pdf format, upon your request. You will need 'Acrobat Reader' freeware to read the pdf file. To download the reader free of charge, go to the following website:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/alternate.html#50

Dave can also send example pictures of the individual pieces you will need to acquire, along with their manufacturers.

Please send your request for a complete set of Strategia rules to Dave O'Brien at:

dobrien@hp.com

Dave does request you respect his copyrighted intellectual property.

Also, he would appreciate your input, feedback, and thoughts on the game. Keep in mind several computer software models were created to check Strategia for balance across all ranks, elements, and movement capabilities. While any comments and suggestions for improvements will be warmly accepted, please keep in mind even the best ideas need to be thoroughly checked for stability. Part of the fun in creating this game included the careful consideration of many new ideas properly checked by computer, for balance.