Section 5: Scoring & Winning
Winning the Game
A player wins immediately by attacking and capturing the opposing Flag. It does not matter which movable piece reaches the Flag or how many pieces the winner has lost.
A player also wins if the opponent has no legal move. This occurs when the opponent has no movable pieces remaining or when all remaining movable pieces are completely trapped by friendly pieces, lakes, Bombs, or other positions they cannot legally enter.
Resignation
A player may resign when they believe defeat is unavoidable. The opponent is then declared the winner. Players are encouraged to finish uncertain positions because hidden pieces can still create surprising reversals.
Draws
A single casual game normally produces a winner, but the players may declare a draw by mutual agreement. A draw is also reasonable when an unchanged cycle repeats and neither player can force progress under the repetition rule chosen before play.
Match Scoring
Stratego does not require numerical scoring for a single game. For a multi-game match, use a simple system of 1 match point for a win, one-half point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. Alternate colors and starting player between games. The player with the most match points after the agreed number of games wins the match.
Tiebreakers
If a match must produce one winner, play an additional game with colors selected randomly. For a quicker tiebreak, each player may use a reduced army under the same published setup agreed in advance; do not invent unequal forces after seeing the tied score.