Section 4: Gameplay
Taking a Turn
On a turn, a player must move one of their movable pieces. A legal move is either a non-combat move into an empty square or an attack against one adjacent opposing piece. A player may not pass while any legal move is available.
Ordinary Movement
- Marshal, General, Colonel, Major, Captain, Lieutenant, Sergeant, Miner, and Spy move exactly one square horizontally or vertically.
- Pieces may not move diagonally.
- A piece may not enter a square occupied by another friendly piece.
- A piece may not jump over another piece or move through a lake.
- The Flag and Bombs never move after setup.
Scout Movement
A Scout may move any number of vacant squares horizontally or vertically in a single turn, like a rook in chess. It may not turn a corner, jump a piece, cross a lake, or move through an occupied square. A Scout may attack an opposing piece at the end of its long move if the path is clear. A one-square Scout move is also legal.
A long Scout move reveals that the moving piece is a Scout. A player may instead move a Scout only one square to preserve uncertainty, although later information may still expose its identity.
Attacking and Resolving Battle
To attack, move a piece onto an orthogonally adjacent square occupied by an opponent. Both players reveal the identities of the two pieces and resolve the battle immediately:
- If one ordinary rank is stronger, the stronger piece remains on the attacked square and the weaker piece is removed from the board.
- If the pieces have equal rank, both are removed and the attacked square becomes empty.
- If a Miner attacks a Bomb, the Bomb is removed and the Miner occupies its square.
- If any piece other than a Miner attacks a Bomb, the attacker is removed and the Bomb remains in place.
- If the Spy attacks the Marshal, the Marshal is removed and the Spy occupies its square.
- If the Marshal attacks the Spy, the Spy is removed. The Spy's special power applies only when the Spy initiates the attack.
- If any movable piece attacks the Flag, the Flag is captured and the game ends immediately.
After a battle, surviving pieces normally return to concealed status with their identities facing only their owners. Players must remember information gained from earlier battles; note-taking is used only if both players agreed to permit it before the game.
Repetition and Stalling
A piece may not endlessly shuttle between the same two squares. Under the common three-move limit, a player may move the same piece back and forth between the same two squares on no more than three consecutive turns by that player. On the next turn involving that piece, it must move elsewhere or the player must move a different piece.
Players should not use repeated cycles solely to prevent progress. If a longer chase repeats without either side changing the position, pause and apply an agreed repetition house rule, such as requiring the pursuing piece to break the cycle.
Touch and Correction
For casual play, a move becomes final when the player releases the piece on a legal destination. An illegal move should be taken back immediately without penalty unless the players established a different rule beforehand. Accidentally exposed pieces should be concealed again, but information already seen cannot realistically be erased.