Chinese Stratego

Chinese Stratego / 陸軍棋

Chinese Stratego (Luzhanqi, "Army Chess") is a tense two-player game of hidden armies. You and your opponent each secretly deploy twenty-five pieces, then march them along the roads and railways of a shared board, guessing at what the enemy's face-down pieces might be. Every clash reveals a little more — and one bold advance can capture the enemy Flag and win the game outright.

Objective

Capture your opponent's Flag, or leave them with no legal move. Your own pieces are hidden from your opponent, and theirs are hidden from you, so most of the game is spent deducing enemy ranks from how they move and fight.

Setup

Each player privately arranges their army on their own half of the board. Only you can see your piece identities; your opponent sees blank backs. A few placement rules apply:

• Your Flag must be placed in one of your two Headquarters.
• Landmines may only sit on your back two ranks.
• Bombs may not sit on the front rank.

When your deployment is set, press Ready. Play begins once both sides are ready.

The board

Pieces travel between stations along two kinds of routes:

• Roads — move one connected station per turn.
• Railways — move any distance in a straight, unobstructed line. Engineers may even turn corners along the rails.
• Camps — a piece resting in a camp is safe and cannot be attacked.
• Headquarters — where the Flag hides; a piece that stops here cannot leave.

Taking turns

Players alternate. On your turn you either move one piece to an empty connected space, or move it onto an enemy piece to attack. You may not move onto a friendly piece or into a camp that is already occupied.

Combat

When you attack, both pieces are revealed and compared:

• The higher rank wins and the loser is removed. Ranks run (strongest to weakest): Field Marshal, General, Lieutenant General, Brigadier General, Colonel, Major, Captain, Platoon Commander, Engineer.
• Equal ranks destroy each other — both pieces are removed.
• A Bomb destroys any piece it fights, attacking or defending — and is lost with it.
• A Landmine destroys any attacker except an Engineer, who safely defuses it. Mines never move.
• The Flag cannot move or attack. The moment it is attacked, it is captured.

How to win

You win the instant you capture the enemy Flag. You also win if your opponent is left with no legal move. Because information is hidden, victory usually comes from patient scouting with your Engineers, protecting your Flag's Headquarters, and springing Bombs and Mines at the right moment.

Enable the Aide-Mémoire option when creating a game to keep a private record of enemy pieces you have already identified.

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