<p>If you can't move, you lose the game.</p>

<p>Here is an excerpt from the <a href="https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/Stratego.pdf" rel="noreferrer">rules</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>If all of your movable pieces have been removed and you cannot move or attack on a turn, you must give up and declare your opponent a winner.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>You have zero movable pieces and they are all removed so it is a loss.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-22T07:10:50.043Z
There's one exception: if the opponent also has no moveable pieces, the game is a draw. In tournament games, if your last moveable piece has been captured and you therefore cannot move anymore, you can call the referee to check whether your opponent still has a moveable piece left.
TemplateRex
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-16T10:28:10.807Z
2017-12-17T10:18:15.100Z
2017-12-17T10:18:15.100Z
Toon Krijthe
<p>Imagine a situation which is highly improbable in practice but still possible theoretically. A novice player in Stratego, when making his/her initial setup, has put all his/her six bombs in the front row. No bombs behind any of the two lakes, however. So, in other words: two adjacent bombs are on the left flank, two bombs on the right flank and two in the center.</p>

<p>I had been playing wonderful game of Stratego for a long time, but I am so afraid of the above mentioned setup I never dared to try it. Still, I wonder what the game rules say about it. Is this an immediate loss?</p>

<stratego>
In Stratego, what happens if in the setup a player puts all six bombs in the front row but not behind the lakes?
Alexander
# In Stratego, what happens if in the setup a player puts all six bombs in the front row but not behind the lakes?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-12-16)

Imagine a situation which is highly improbable in practice but still possible theoretically. A novice player in Stratego, when making his/her initial setup, has put all his/her six bombs in the front row. No bombs behind any of the two lakes, however. So, in other words: two adjacent bombs are on the left flank, two bombs on the right flank and two in the center.

I had been playing wonderful game of Stratego for a long time, but I am so afraid of the above mentioned setup I never dared to try it. Still, I wonder what the game rules say about it. Is this an immediate loss?

**Tags:** stratego


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-12-16. Score: 24 | Accepted answer

If you can't move, you lose the game.

Here is an excerpt from the [rules](https://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/Stratego.pdf):

> If all of your movable pieces have been removed and you cannot move or attack on a turn, you must give up and declare your opponent a winner.

You have zero movable pieces and they are all removed so it is a loss.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: There's one exception: if the opponent also has no moveable pieces, the game is a draw. In tournament games, if your last moveable piece has been captured and you therefore cannot move anymore, you can call the referee to check whether your opponent still has a moveable piece left.  

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