Strategia:
Greek meaning 'generalship' and derivation of the word
'strategy.' The art of maneuvering military troops and
equipment for the purpose of overcoming an opponent in
battle. Dave O'Brien formally created the game of
Strategia in January 1990. Simultaneously planning the
many battles involving all of the elements of modern war,
you are the supreme commander. Your ability to plan,
move, attack, retreat, and defend is essential for
success. While deception and audacity can help you win a
battle, your superior strategy will win the war. Strategia
is an extension to the Milton Bradley game Stratego, and
while Stratego is a good test of one's ability to move an
infantry, Strategia adds a Navy, an Air Force, and heavy
armor to complete the modern day triad of waging war.
The
object of the game is the same as Stratego - to capture
your opponent's flag!
A
summary of the strengths of Strategia include the
following:
- If
we label the normal Stratego board as the
"land grid", Strategia has an attaching
"ocean grid" which extends the battle
to the high seas.
- Strategia
adds the ability to quickly move the infantry
from your rear ranks to the front lines. This is
done by the aggressive capture of various
"ports" on the ocean grid. Once a port
is captured, the infantry can be transferred to a
docked ship and then back to the land grid in as
little as two moves.
- While
the existing ranks of the infantry remain
unchanged from the original game - Strategia adds
an Air Force, which dramatically limits the
common head-on attacking approach of your
opponent's Marshal, General and Colonials. Moving
one square in any direction over land or water,
an Air Force fighter can capture these executive
officers by flying into their square. This forces
these officers into their proper, and realistic,
positions in the rear ranks and makes the end
game much more exciting. The lower ranks
including the Scout, the Miner, and the Sergeant
can destroy these Air Force units, which creates
a new and totally different strategic balance to
the game. It also empowers the middle ranks to a
much greater level than ever before. This balance
essentially eliminates the common complaint in
Stratego of "useless" or
"throw-away" ranks.
- Because
your Navy is trying to capture strategic ports
for infantry mobility while your Air Force is
guarding against senior officer advancement, it's
common for opposing air and ocean elements to
fight each other. Air-to-air dog fighting and
ship-to-ship bombardments are common and become
dramatic as various combinations of ships and
planes form and break into individual squadrons,
battle groups or even a large task force.
- Tanks
and artillery are used for blocking and tactical
advancement. Your ability to place and keep your
armor will greatly enhance your forward mobility
and safe retreat capabilities.
- Other
highlights of Strategia include the movement of
infantry inside tanks and trucks, landing and
launching aircraft from an aircraft carrier,
surface to air and surface to surface
engagements, tank battles, ship movements through
the land grid lakes, infantry fighting on the
ocean grid islands, submarine battles including
the launch of torpedoes and depth charges, and
optional rules for shortening the average length
of a game from four hours to about three hours.
A complete set of rules is available to anyone interested
in expanding their Stratego-war-playing abilities to the
limit. The rules are free of charge and will be sent via
e-mail, in pdf format, upon your request. You will need
'Acrobat Reader' freeware to read the pdf file. To
download the reader free of charge, go to the following
website:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/alternate.html#50
Dave can also send example pictures
of the individual pieces you will need to acquire, along
with their manufacturers.
Please send your request for a
complete set of Strategia rules to Dave O'Brien at:
dobrien@hp.com
Dave
does request you respect his copyrighted intellectual
property.
Also,
he would appreciate your input, feedback, and thoughts on
the game. Keep in mind several computer software models
were created to check Strategia for balance across all
ranks, elements, and movement capabilities. While any
comments and suggestions for improvements will be warmly
accepted, please keep in mind even the best ideas need to
be thoroughly checked for stability. Part of the fun in
creating this game included the careful consideration of
many new ideas properly checked by computer, for balance.
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