Editing Stratego (section)

==History==

===Japanese Military Chess===
[[File:Gunjin Shogi.jpg|thumb|''Gunjin Shogi'' (23-piece)]]
[[Japanese Military Chess]] (''Gunjin Shogi'') has been sold and played since as early as 1895, although it is not known by whom and when it was invented.<ref name=Takahashi-2016>{{cite journal |last1=Takahashi |first1=Hironor i|title=Military Chess in Japan and the World |journal=The Institute of Amusement Industry Studies Osaka University of Commerce No. 18 |location=JPN |date=2016 |url=https://ouc.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=571&file_id=22&file_no=1}}</ref>{{rp|129–130}} Dr. Christian Junghans reported this game in ''Monatshefte'' magazine in Germany in 1905.  It seems, only after reading his article, Julie Berg took out a patent on a war game in London and Paris in 1907.<ref name=FR379625A>{{cite patent |country=FR |status=Patent |number=379625A |inventor=Julie Berg |fdate=June 24, 1907 |pubdate=November 13, 1907 |title=Jeu de la guerre}}</ref> Similarly, [[Hermance Edan]] took a patent for ''L'attaque'' game in 1909<ref name=FR396795A/> and sold them in 1910.<ref name=Takahashi-2016/>{{rp|154–158}}

The main differences between ''Gunjin Shogi'' and ''Stratego'' are:
* ''Gunjin Shogi'' needs a referee to resolve the battles of the pieces, which are kept face-down throughout the game.<ref name=tanken/>
* The Flag is placed only on the headquarters and a player who successfully occupied the headquarters of the opponent shall win the game.
* There are no Scout pieces. The Engineers and Spy have the same movement as the Scouts in ''Stratego''.
* Only flag and senior officers can occupy the opponent's headquarters.
* Engineer (analogue of miner) can remove mines and tanks.

There are at least three different versions of ''Gunjin Shogi'', distinguished by the number of pieces controlled by each player as well as the size of the board. The 23- and 31-piece versions are similar, influenced by the technology of World War I, and the 25-piece version is a more recent development, incorporating technologies developed during World War II.<ref name=tanken>{{cite web |url=https://tanken.com/gunjin.html |title=日本軍人将棋連盟ホームページにようこそ |lang=ja |trans-title=Welcome to the website of the Japan Military Shogi Federation |website=tanken.com |access-date=18 July 2023 |quote=駒や盤の取り方などは時代によって（あるいは製造元によって）多少異なるようです。第1次大戦後にはタンクや地雷が、第2次大戦後には毒ガスや飛行機、原爆が登場するなど、現実の戦争に応じて、次々と進化を遂げてきました。[Pieces and boards differ slightly depending on when or who manufactured them. After World War I, tanks and mines were included, and after World War II, poison gas, airplanes, and atomic bombs were added.]}}</ref>

===French ''L'Attaque''===

{|class="wikitable mw-collapsible collapsed floatright" style="width:12em;font-size:80%;text-align:center;"
|+ ''Jeu de bataille ave pièces mobiles sur damier'' pieces<ref name=FR396795A/>
! Rank !! Piece !! Qty
|-
! B
| mine || 4
|-
! 1
| général chef d'armée || 1
|-
! 2
| général chef de brigade || 1
|-
! 3
| colonel || 2
|-
! 4
| commandant || 2
|-
! 5
| capitain || 4
|-
! 6
| lieutenant || 4
|-
! 7
| sergent || 4
|-
! 8
| sapeur || 4
|-
! 9
| éclaireur || 8
|-
! S
| espion || 1
|-
! F
| le drapeau || 1
|}
In nearly its present form ''Stratego'' appeared in France from [[La Samaritaine]] in 1910, and then in Britain before [[World War I]], as a game called ''[[L'Attaque]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lewin|first1=Christopher George|title=War Games and Their History|date=2012|publisher=Fonthill Media|location=UK|isbn=978-1-78155-042-7|page=159}}</ref><ref name="Board Game Geek: L'Attaque">{{cite web|title=L'Attaque|url=http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9246/lattaque|publisher=Board Game Geek|access-date=29 August 2011}}</ref>  Historian and game collector [[Thierry Depaulis]] writes:<ref name=Depaulis>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ultraboardgames.com/stratego/history.php|title=The History of Stratego {{!}} UltraBoardGames|website=www.ultraboardgames.com|access-date=2020-02-05}}</ref>

<blockquote>It was in fact designed by a lady, Mademoiselle [[Hermance Edan]], who filed a patent for a ''"jeu de bataille avec pièces mobiles sur damier"'' (a battle game with mobile pieces on a gameboard) on 1908-11-26. The patent was released by the [[French Patent Office]] in 1909 (patent #396.795). Hermance Edan had given no name to her game but a French manufacturer named Au Jeu Retrouvé was selling the game as ''L'Attaque'' as early as 1910.</blockquote>

{|class="wikitable mw-collapsible collapsed floatleft" style="width:25em;font-size:80%;text-align:center;background:#ada;"
|+"Jeu de bataille ave pièces mobiles sur damier" gameboard<ref name=FR396795A/>
! &nbsp;
! A !! B !! C !! D !! E !! F !! G !! H !! I
|-
! 10
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
|-
! 9
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
|-
! 8
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
|-
! 7
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego B00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
|-
! 6
| &nbsp; || &nbsp;
| rowspan=2 style="background:#aad;" | &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| rowspan=2 style="background:#aad;" | &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| rowspan=2 style="background:#aad;" | &nbsp;
| &nbsp; || &nbsp;
|-
! 5
| &nbsp; || &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp; || &nbsp;
|-
! 4
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
|-
! 3
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
|-
! 2
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
|-
! 1
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]] || [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
| [[File:Stratego R00.svg|frameless|upright=0.12]]
|}
The French patent has 36 pieces for each player and also has a slightly different board layout, but it introduced the same hierarchical rules of attack and movement followed by modern versions of the game.<ref name=FR396795A>{{Cite patent|country=FR|number=396795 |status=patent |inventor=Hermance Edan |pridate=26 November 1908 |fdate=5 February 1909 |pubdate=20 April 1909 |title=Jeu de bataille ave pièces mobiles sur damier}}</ref> Depaulis further notes the 1910 version had two armies, divided into red and blue colors. The rules of ''L'attaque'' were basically the same as for the game we know as ''Stratego''. It featured standing cardboard rectangular pieces, color printed with soldiers who wore contemporary (to 1900) uniforms, not [[Napoleonic]] uniforms.  In papers of her estate, Ms. Edan states that she developed the game in the 1880s.<ref name=Depaulis/>

=== H. P. Gibson & Sons games ===

The publishing rights for ''L'Attaque'' were acquired for the United Kingdom by game maker [[Gibsons Games|H.P. Gibson and Sons]] in 1925,<ref name=Time-1942>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,774147,00.html |title=Little Wars |magazine=[[Time Magazine|Time]] |date=14 December 1942}}</ref> retaining the French name through at least the 1970s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1155344/lattaque-board-game-hp-gibson/ |title=L'attaque |website=Victoria & Albert Museum |access-date=18 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/board-game-l-attaque-h-p-gibson-and-sons-ltd/PwFvPKR8lrig8A |title=Board game: L'Attaque! |publisher=Google Arts & Culture |access-date=18 July 2023}}</ref> Gibsons also produced several modified forms of the game, at least one of which predates the acquisition of the rights:

* [[Dover Patrol (game)|Dover Patrol]] – a naval warfare game on a board of 12×8 squares devised by Harry A. Gibson in 1911, but very similar to L'Attaque (and hence Stratego)
* [[Aviation (game)]] – an air battle variation designed by Harry Gibson in 1925, with a variant called Battle of Britain sold in the 1970s
* [[Tri-Tactics (game)|Tri-Tactics]] – a game combining land, sea and air warfare on a 12×12 board, with 56 pieces per person, dating from 1932, evolved from the above games.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lewin|first1=Christopher George|title=War Games and Their History|date=2012|publisher=Fonthill Media|location=UK|isbn=978-1-78155-042-7|page=161}}</ref>

In 2019, Gibsons released a 100th anniversary edition of ''L'Attaque''. This edition included both the original and modern rules.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://gibsonsgames.co.uk/blogs/news/gibsons-release-100th-anniversary-edition-of-lattaque |title=Gibsons release 100th anniversary edition of L'Attaque |date=February 5, 2019 |website=Gibsons Games |access-date=18 July 2023}}</ref>

===Stratego (classic)===
{{one source|date=January 2024}}
''Stratego'' was created by [[Dutch people|Dutchman]] [[:de:Jacques Johan Mogendorff|Jacques Johan Mogendorff]] sometime before 1942. The name was registered as a trademark in 1942 by the Dutch company [[Van Perlstein & Roeper Bosch N.V.]] (which also produced the first edition of ''[[Monopoly (game)|Monopoly]]'').  After WW2, Mogendorff licensed Stratego to [[Smeets and Schippers]], a Dutch company, in 1946. [[Hausemann and Hotte]] acquired a license in 1958 for European distribution, and in 1959 for global distribution.  After Mogendorff's death in 1961, Hausemann and Hotte purchased the trademark from his heirs, and sublicensed it to [[Milton Bradley Company|Milton Bradley]] (which was acquired by [[Hasbro]] in 1984) in 1961 for United States distribution. It is introduced to the people of the United States as, "the American version of the game now popular on [[the Continent]]."<ref>Stratego box, 1961</ref> In 2009, Hausemann and Hotte was succeeded by Koninklijke Jumbo B.V. in the Netherlands.

The modern game of ''Stratego'', with its Napoleonic imagery, was originally manufactured in the Netherlands. Pieces were originally made of printed cardboard and inserted in metal clip stands. After World War II, painted [[wood]] pieces became standard.<ref name="Wagg">{{cite book |last=Waggoner |first=Susan |title=Under the Tree: the Toys and Treats That Made Christmas Special, 1930–1970 |publisher=Stewart, Tabori & Chang |date=2007 |isbn=978-1584796411}}</ref> Starting in the early 1960s all versions switched to [[plastic]] pieces. The change from wood to plastic was made for economical reasons, as was the case with many products during that period, but with Stratego the change also served a structural function: Unlike the wooden pieces, the plastic pieces were designed with a small base. The wooden pieces had none, often resulting in pieces tipping over. This was disastrous for that player, since it often immediately revealed the piece's rank, as well as unleashing a [[Domino toppling|literal domino effect]] by having a falling piece knock over other pieces. European versions introduced cylindrical castle-shaped pieces that proved to be popular. American editions later introduced new rectangular pieces with a more stable base and colorful stickers, not images directly imprinted on the plastic.

European versions of the game give the Marshal the highest number (10), while the initial American versions used the numbering system of ''L'Attaque'', giving the Marshal the lowest number (1) to show the highest value (i.e. it is the number 1, or most powerful, tile). More recent American versions of the game, which adopted the European system, caused considerable complaint among American players who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s. This may have been a factor in the release of a ''Nostalgia'' edition, in a wooden box, reproducing the [[classic]] edition of the early 1970s.

===Modern Stratego variations===

====Electronic Stratego====
''Electronic Stratego'' was introduced by Milton Bradley in 1982. To promote the release, the company hired two actors to play [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Leonid Brezhnev]], who played a match at the [[New York Public Library Main Branch]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Games_Volume_01_Number_12_1983-02_Reese_Communications_US/page/n9/mode/2up |title=Stratego Summit Held |date=February 1983 |magazine=Electronic Games |access-date=7 August 2023}}</ref>

It has features that make many aspects of the game strikingly different from those of classic ''Stratego''. The board is 8 wide by 10 squares deep, instead of 10×10. The blocked "lake" areas are therefore 1×2 instead of 2×2. Each side has 24 pieces, instead of 40, deployed in the three rows closest to the player; instead of six bomb pieces, ''Electronic Stratego'' uses hidden bomb pegs.<ref name=E-Stratego-1982/>

Each type of playing piece in ''Electronic Stratego'' has a unique series of bumps on its bottom that are read by the game's battery-operated touch-sensitive "board".<ref name=E-Stratego-1982/>{{rp|7}} When attacking another piece, the attacking player hits their ''Strike'' button, presses their piece and then the targeted piece: the game either rewards a successful attack or punishes a failed strike with an appropriate bit of music.<ref name=E-Stratego-1982/>{{rp|22–25}} In this way the players never know for certain the rank of the piece that wins the attack, only whether the attack wins, fails, or ties (similar to the role of the referee in the Chinese game of ''[[Luzhanqi]]'').<ref name=Worley-review/> Instead of choosing to move a piece, a player can opt to "probe" an opposing piece by hitting the ''Probe'' button and pressing down on the enemy piece: the game then beeps out a rough approximation of the strength of that piece.<ref name=E-Stratego-1982/>{{rp|26–27}}

There are no ''Bomb'' pieces: ''Bombs'' are set using pegs placed on a touch-sensitive "peg board" that is closed from view prior to the start of the game.<ref name=E-Stratego-1982/>{{rp|16–19}} Hence, it is possible for a player to have their piece occupying a square with a bomb on it.<ref name=Worley-review/> If an opposing piece lands on the seemingly empty square, the game plays the sound of an explosion and that piece is removed from play. As in classic ''Stratego'', only a ''Miner'' can remove a ''Bomb'' from play.

The ''Scout'' is allowed to move diagonally, in addition to its usual horizontal and vertical moves. Again, as with the non-electronic ''Stratego'', scouts are not allowed to jump over pieces.<ref name=E-Stratego-1982/>{{rp|28–33}}

A player who successfully captures the opposing ''Flag'' is rewarded with a triumphant bit of music from the ''[[1812 Overture]]''.<ref name=E-Stratego-1982>{{cite web |url=http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/Stratego,_Electronic.PDF |title=Electronic Stratego |date=1982 |publisher=Milton Bradley}}</ref>{{rp|36}}<ref name=Worley-review>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Games_Volume_01_Number_08_1982-10_Reese_Communications_US/page/n97/mode/2up |title=Lead the Electronic Army to Victory! |author=Worley, Joyce |date=October 1982 |magazine=Electronic Games |access-date=7 August 2023}}</ref>

====New pieces and versions====
In the late 1990s, the Jumbo Company released several European variants, including a three- and four-player version, and a new ''Cannon'' piece (which jumps two squares to capture any piece, but loses to any attack against it). It also included some alternate rules such as ''Barrage'' (a quicker two-player game with fewer pieces) and ''Reserves'' (reinforcements in the three- and four-player games). The four-player version appeared in America in 1997.

Starting in the 2000s, Hasbro, under its Milton Bradley label, released a series of popular media-themed Stratego editions.

Besides themed variants with substantially different rules, current production includes three slightly different editions: sets with classic (1961) piece numbering (highest rank=1), sets with European piece numbering (highest rank=10), and sets that allow substitution of one or two variant pieces such as ''Cannons'', usually in place of scouts.  Sets produced since 1970 or so have uniformly adopted the rule that scouts can move and strike in the same turn.