The game can be played with any number of teams. This way you can keep the interest
level high, and you can key the number of teams to the number of players. The teams
should be small enough that you can have at least three lives per person (although this
can be helped along by increasing the number of chits available.
The Team Token can be a flag, however we played with colour coded letter-size pages
#60 paper, which is pretty stiff, and kept it in a Ziploc freezer bag. This set-up is stiff
enough that it can't be folded without the coloured token still showing in a player's hand.
We got a variety pack of super-bright coloured #60 paper at an office supply centre that
didn't cost a whole lot, and made one set from each colour (we still have more than
enough for the next time). I used a Windows word processor and a laser printer to make
the tokens and chits.
Set up the chits in numbers that are fairly reasonable for the game's organisation (1 Field
Marshall, 2 Generals, 3 Colonels, 4 Majors, 6 Captains, 10 Lieutenants, 15 Sergeants, 25
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Corporals, 10 Engineers, 40 Privates, 5 Bombs, and 5 Spies make a pretty decent set, but
you can decide how you want to set it up.
Provide the adult administrators with a set of the game rules and brief them before the
Scouts arrive at your game's centre point. We divided the teams after the Scouts had
picked up all the litter on the activity field (inducement to get a good clean-up done quickly
and more or less willingly, though a few Scouts left the area when they learned that this
was the "admission fee" to the game...).
We first placed the four adult administration teams in four corners, away from the herd,
and made certain the Scouts knew which team was which number (and we still had Scouts
asking which was which after the count). Then we had the Scouts form a single line, and
went down the line making the teams by counting, "One, Two, Three, Four" to divvy them
up. I find the swiftest and least confusing way to do this is to actually move down the line,
nudging each Scout in the general direction of the team corner he or she will belong to...
ESSENTIAL! - Make sure you have a whistle that can be heard all over the area of play (I
used an asynchronous referee's whistle that will put out a good 100 decibels or so of
extremely piercing sound), and establish FIRM boundaries.
These are the game instructions as we gave them to the Patrol Leaders on Friday evening
(to ensure they had time enough to go over the rules and reduce the time required to get
the game going.
Stratego is a wide game that can be played with two or more teams. Each player has a
coloured chit that identifies who he or she is in the game. We are giving you the game play
rules early so that you will have every opportunity to study them and get to know the game
before you play.
Please follow all instructions immediately. The sooner you do what you need to do, the
more time you will have to play.
All areas of the facility are fair play zones with the following exceptions:
Buildings are Out of Bounds.
Campsites are Out of Bounds.
Car parks and equipment storage areas are Out of Bounds.
You will be given a token for your team that the other teams will be attempting to capture.
This token will be placed wherever your team decides to place its administrative area.
(You don't want the other teams to know where this is.)
Two adults will supervise your administrative area.
Teams will be selected by counting off. Please co-operate with this process, because the
sooner your teams are chosen the sooner we can begin.
Your team's administrators (the two adults) will have a bag of chits for your team.
The Game Leader will give you a start command. From this point you have five minutes to
hide your administration area and the two adult administrators. The token has to remain in
the administrative area within 20 feet of the administrators, who are not allowed to move
the position. Once the game begins, you are not allowed to move your administrative area.
As soon as you are in position, you will reach into the administrators bag to get your first
chit. (Administrators will do something to make sure there is a fairly good mix of ranks for
the start of the game.) You can use any spare time to come up with a strategy for finding
the other administrative areas.
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The Game Leader will blow a whistle once. This is your signal that the game will begin in
two minutes.
When the whistle blows again, the game begins.
The Game:
You are trying to capture the tokens from opposing teams. You are also trying to gain
points for your team by "capturing" other players. A "capture" begins when one player
TAGS another. Tackling is NOT allowed! When you tag a player from another team, both
players show each other their chits. If you are "captured", you have to give up your chit.
"Capture" rules are:
The higher number "captures" the lower number EXCEPT for the following:
Any player except the FIELD MARSHALL can "capture" the SPY.
The SPY "captures" the FIELD MARSHALL.
The BOMB "captures" anyone except the ENGINEER.
The ENGINEER "captures" the BOMB.
When you are "captured", you give your chit to the other player. You DO NOT give up any
chits you have "captured".
If you have been "captured", you have to return to your administrative area for another
chit. You are NOT allowed to try to find another team's administrative area while you do
not have your own team's chit.
Remember that you are trying VERY hard not to let anyone from another team know
where your administrative area is and sneak back accordingly. You are OUT OF PLAY
until you have another chit in hand. This means that you cannot chase other players while
you do not have a chit (although you CAN allow them to waste time by chasing you).
When you return to your administrative area, turn in any "captured" chits to your
administrators. Get a new chit and go out again. Remember that other teams will be trying
to find your administrative areas by looking for the area everyone is coming from, and plan
your route back into play accordingly.
If your administrators are out of chits, you are required to sit quietly in your administrative
area until the game is over.
If you find another team's administrative area and token:
You take the token to the Game Leader immediately. (You have to have your own chit to
be eligible to "capture" the token.)
You are NOT allowed to put the token in a pocket. You MUST carry the token in your
hands.
The token is NOT to be removed from its packet.
Token "Capture":
If a player is "captured" while holding the token, the token must be given up with the chit.
If you "recapture" your own token, you need to return it to your administrative area
immediately. Again, you are not allowed to put the token in a pocket, you MUST carry it in
your hands.
If you "capture" someone who is carrying a token, you are allowed to take it to the Game
Leader immediately.
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The Game Leader will blow the whistle two times (two long blasts) to signal the end of the
game. When this happens, all players and administrators return to the game start area
immediately (on the RUN, guys!).
The Game leader will end the game if:
You are not playing by the rules ( A Scout is Trustworthy, and cheating will not be
tolerated.)
One of the Team Tokens is turned in.
The game's time limit is reached.
When you are all at Game Centre, you are required to turn over the chits you have
"captured", along with your own chit.
All the "captured" chits are counted up to arrive at your total score for the game. Once
counted, all the chits will be turned back to their teams. Once we have the scores figured
out, we play again! The more time you dally, the less time you will have to play!
The description of the wide game stratego was very good. Our troop often play a similar
game called Frontiers.
You divide the boys in to teams. Each team is given a small "home base". In the "home
base" each team is given 10 - 15 tokens (flags).
The playing field is divided in to parts with a home base on each. (The game is best played
in a area with trees and bushes).
The goal of the game is to sneak into the other teams area and capture a token. If
someone from the other team is being able to tag you on their side of the field you are
taken as a prisoner to their "home base".
Now when a member of your own team reaches the "homes base" he is able to free you
instead of taking a token.
If you have a token or a "free" prisoner you are free to go back to your own home base.
The game lasts for a specified time and the team with the most tokens wins.
Norman J MacLeod gave a very nice description of the Stratego wide game. In our Pack
we have used a couple of variations to keep the game interesting :
The "administrative areas" of all teams are known, but the token is hidden somewhere in a
20 by 20 meter area. This makes the game somewhat easier, since you can walk straight
back to get a new chit.
Every team has a number of flags/tokens to hide. Once a flag is captured, you should
bring it back to your team's administrative area, and hide it. The game ends after a certain
amount of time, and the team with the largest number of flags is the winner. When two or
more teams have the same number of flags, the number of conquered chits determines
the winner.
[My personal favourite !] Use only 3 ranks : e.g. General, Engineer and Bomb. The
General wins over the Engineer, the Engineer wins over the Bomb and the Bomb wins
over the general, so essentially all ranks are equal !! (But it takes the kids some time to
figure that out).
