Where you put your 21 pieces decides how the game will go — before either side moves. Six ways to think about it, each ready to load onto your board. You can still rearrange anything before you press Ready.
THE FORTRESS
Flag in the centre of the back row, a General on each side, Spies and Privates layered in front.
Balanced
Front row at top · Flag outlined
Probe with the front-row Privates and juniors, let the middle rank of officers punish whatever wins those fights, and never move the back three. The two Privates beside the Flag exist to kill any Spy that reaches it.
Hardest Flag to reach: three guarded approach squares
Spies sit behind Privates, so enemy Privates can't get at them cheaply
Nothing valuable is exposed on turn one
Predictable — experienced players expect the Flag in the middle
Slow to develop; a fast opponent decides the tempo
CORNER BUNKER
Flag in the corner with only two approach squares, each held by a top General and covered by a Spy.
Defensive
Front row at top · Flag outlined
Hold the corner with the 5-Star and 4-Star and never trade them; the Spies behind them answer any enemy General that comes calling. Use the rest of the army to fight in the centre and on the far flank while the Flag stays untouchable.
Only two squares touch the Flag, both held by Generals
Spies adjacent to the guards punish attacking Generals
Frees eleven pieces for the fight elsewhere
A cornered Flag has nowhere to run if the guards fall
An enemy Spy that reaches a guard cannot be answered — keep a Private near
FALSE FLAG
A Sergeant guarded like a Flag in one corner; the real Flag hidden among Privates on the other side.
Defensive
Front row at top · Flag outlined
Never move the decoy corner — the 5-Star, 4-Star and Sergeant sit still and look important. Play normally elsewhere. When the enemy commits Generals and Spies to the decoy, they are far from the real Flag and walking into two of yours.
Attackers spend tempo and top pieces on the wrong corner
The real Flag looks like one more Private
Generals guarding the decoy still kill anything that arrives
The real Flag's guard is thin — a lucky probe finds it
Falls apart if you move the decoy corner and reveal the bluff
SPEARHEAD
Both top Generals in the front row with a Spy between them and Privates on their flanks — a wedge that goes forward on move one.
Aggressive
Front row at top · Flag outlined
March the wedge up the centre: the Generals eat whatever they touch, the Spy between them kills any General that steps up, and the flanking Privates kill any Spy that tries the same. Keep the Flag's back-row guard still while the wedge does the work.
Wins material early against anyone who meets the wedge
Every piece in the wedge covers another's weakness
Forces the opponent to react to you
Loses to a patient opponent who lets the wedge pass and hunts the thin back row
The front-row Spy is exposed to enemy Privates — keep it inside the wedge
BAIT LINE
A front line of Privates and junior officers invites attacks; the Generals and Spies wait one row back to answer.
Defensive
Front row at top · Flag outlined
Let the enemy come to you. Every front-line piece they take tells you what they attacked with — then send the exact counter from the second row: a Spy at anything that beat an officer, a Private at anything that behaved like a Spy, a General at the rest.
Cheap pieces do the scouting; expensive ones only fight known targets
Almost impossible to blunder a General early
Every enemy capture leaks information
Gives up the initiative — a cautious opponent turns it into a stalemate
If the enemy ignores the bait and flanks, the second row is slow to turn
FLANK MARCH
Flag on the edge with an escort column ready to walk it up the file while the heavy pieces hold the centre.
Aggressive
Front row at top · Flag outlined
Occupy the centre and right with the Generals so the fighting happens there. When the left file is clear — or the enemy is thin — advance the Flag behind its escort (Colonel, Lt. Colonel, a Private) one square at a time. Reaching the enemy back row wins outright.
A second way to win that most opponents forget to guard against
The escort doubles as a solid left flank
Forces the enemy to keep pieces home
A moving Flag is a Flag that can be caught — never advance into contact
Anything that walks up the edge with an escort looks suspicious to a good player
Made your own? In any game's deployment screen, Save keeps a formation on your account and Load brings it back next time.