Tangentially taking this opportunity to mention the far-superior "Lying and Cheating" version of Stratego, that (as far as I know) my father invented.
It makes the game so much more interesting, IMO. Played it a lot as a child.
Here are the basic rules, when a piece is attacked:
* The attacker says what their piece is, without showing it (they can lie)
* The defender says whether they believe that
* The defender says what their piece is, without showing it (they can lie)
* The attacker says whether they believe that
* ONLY IF someone calls a bluff is that piece revealed. Otherwise, it is treated as the piece it was claimed to be, and kept hidden.
* If someone calls a bluff, and they were right, then the other player loses a piece (reach over and remove any piece you like)
** If you pick their flag, then you win — game over.
* Likewise, if someone calls a bluff but is wrong, then *they* lose a piece.
* After all of that is resolved, do combat as normal, with pieces having either their revealed or not-revealed claimed value, as appropriate.
Once you resolve all this, there is no "memory" - you can claim it is a different piece in the future.
Some minutiae:
* You can move any piece as though it were a Scout (9), but when you do the move, the other player can call your bluff since you're essentially claiming it is a Scout at that moment. Resolve that bluff/call before completing the move.
* You could even call a bluff on *any* move someone makes, if you believe that piece is a bomb or flag (and thus cannot move).
* You can attack with a bomb! It's a two-step process: first you move (and they could call your bluff, if they know it is a bomb - see above). Then, when the attack happens, you say it *is* a bomb. Of course, your opponent may say their piece is a Miner, and if you haven't seen it, it's a dangerous proposition (since bombs are rare).
** You can also do a variant where bombs can't attack (by attacking, you are claiming it is *not* a bomb). I prefer the above version.
Overall, I find this version of the game is a lot less boring. Since you'll probably get several pieces zapped over the course of the game, it affects your flag placement. Plus, you can move flags and bombs, making it more dynamic. Also, the "remember where things were" aspect is even more poignant, since once a piece has been revealed, it loses all the power of being whatever-is-needed-right-now (assuming the other player has a good memory).
So, for instance, you can do something crazy like move your bomb as though it were a Scout, all the way across the board, onto an opponent's piece, but then claim it's a "5" instead for the attack. Then if it survives, just let it sit there, continuing to be a bomb in the future (causing havoc).
We did something simpler in the same spirit, borrowing from poker rules. When you attack, you must reveal, but as the defender, you can remove your own piece without revealing what it was (even if it would have been the winning piece, although removing a winning piece is very seldomly of actual strategic value). Even this slight tweak goes a long way towards spicing up the game.
It makes the game so much more interesting, IMO. Played it a lot as a child.
Here are the basic rules, when a piece is attacked:
Once you resolve all this, there is no "memory" - you can claim it is a different piece in the future.Some minutiae:
Overall, I find this version of the game is a lot less boring. Since you'll probably get several pieces zapped over the course of the game, it affects your flag placement. Plus, you can move flags and bombs, making it more dynamic. Also, the "remember where things were" aspect is even more poignant, since once a piece has been revealed, it loses all the power of being whatever-is-needed-right-now (assuming the other player has a good memory).So, for instance, you can do something crazy like move your bomb as though it were a Scout, all the way across the board, onto an opponent's piece, but then claim it's a "5" instead for the attack. Then if it survives, just let it sit there, continuing to be a bomb in the future (causing havoc).