No, our family’s game didn’t have that guy on the cover either. Plastic pieces, though.
In addition, I have heard the wooden pieces fell over too easily.
I like that the top of the bomb looks like a guy screaming because his hair is on fire.
That’s the “peasant burninated by Trogdor” game token.
BTW, while I don’t have a copy my understanding is the current printings swapped the numbers so the high numbers now win unlike when I was a kid.
Ah, memories. Everyone in my family of five played.
I bought a copy of a Stratego-like game on Amazon last year called “Battle Plan: Air Force”.
It’s literally just stratego except with a slightly different map layout and all pieces are based off real fighter jets. I believe the top piece #1 is an F-22 Raptor. The bombs are now SAM sites, the #9 scouts are unarmed drones, #8 miners are now stealth fighters etc. It’s a pretty neat renaming because the new units actually make sense.
There’s two rule changes you can do also that differs from normal stratego, since bombs are now SAM sites you can allow overflight of your own bombs. Theres also the fact the spy is now an AWACS jet. You can choose to have the AWACS fly close support for any piece in the game (if done the piece will now occupy the same spot as whatever piece you choose to have it fly escort for) The AWACS gives any piece EXCEPT the bomb, spy or #1 a plus 1 (or minute one) to rank so now you can make your #2 a #1 piece too, or make a #9 scout into a #8 miner if you need an emergency bomb defusal (while also retaining the scouts ability to jump forward many spaces). However ANY unit that attacks the AWACS/Unit combo first, or if the AWACS/Unit combo faces an enemy tougher than it, will automatically kill the AWACS if not the unit itself as well.
The rules do give some interesting strategy, such as using scouts as long range bomb defusal experts. Or sacrificing your #2 to look for the #1 in a suicide attack.
A popular strategy we used to follow was to place the flag in the rear corner and surround it with two bombs, leaving more bombs that way to cause mayhem elsewhere. Usually I placed bombs in the second or third ranks. scouts usually occupied all the front positions at the start.
A strategy I used to pursue was creating smallish ‘task forces’ that would contain a scouting element, a miner element, and a high ranking element for gutting out large portions of real estate.
The problem with any of these strategies is that if they become too common, they become ineffective. If you leave your flag with two bombs in a corner too often, then your opponent only needs to guess which of the two corners it’s in. Of course, if you know your opponent has figured out that you always do that, then it’s the perfect opportunity to put decoy bombs in the corner and hide your flag somewhere else. Ultimately, some Nash equilibrium would emerge, where you randomly choose to put the flag in the corner X% of the time, and in some other places Y% and Z%.
Yes, occasional changeups to keep opponents on their toes are certainly wise.
I remember using those tricks playing other kids. They were pretty easy to fool because they were kids, I don’t think it was against the spirit of the rules at all, I do think advanced players wouldn’t be fooled so easily, I would also use the phony nest of bombs protecting a scout to get them to waste pieces. Again, it was kids, their usual strategy was based on guessing.