What to do

After you set up your side of the field with your army, your goal is to find the enemy Plans or eliminate the enemy army. You destroy the enemy army by defeating lower numbered pieces with higher numbered pieces, except in special cases.

Special Pieces

- The Plans, find this piece to win (only one)

- Mine, this piece defeats everything but 3s (six Mines)

- Assassin, this piece can only defeat the 10 (only one)

- Can disarm Mines (five of these)

- Scout piece, can move anywhere in a horizontal or vertical line, like the Rook in chess (8 of these)

Playing

Each player moves one piece per turn. If a piece is moved onto a square occupied by an opposing piece, their identities are revealed, and the weaker piece (exceptions listed above) is removed from the game. If the attacking piece wins the battle, it will occupy the space it attempted to move to. If the attacking piece loses the battle, it is simply removed from the game. If the engaging pieces are of equal rank both are removed from the game.

Strategies

Basic Placement

During army placement, the Plans are usually surrounded by Mines for protection. However, it is also common to place a few Mines away from the Plans in an attempt to trick the enemy into a false location.

Mines also limit mobility, so take care in placing them. Don't put them in straight lines where it will take your pieces several turns to get around them. While it may seem appealing to "wall yourself in" (placing all of your Mines at the frontline), this not only prevents you from moving, but when the enemy discovers your wall, he is free to move his pieces around and plan an attack.

Bluffing

You can try to force an enemy piece to retreat by threatening it with an unrevealed low ranking piece. This is most common in Assassin v. 10, where the enemy will believe the Assassin is advancing to attack when it is in fact a "2".

The 'shoreline bluff' involves placing your Plans adjacent to one of the lakes, where the enemy may not think to look. (Because the Plans are usually put on the edge of the game board) This is very risky but also allows for mobile defenses. The enemy may waste his time searching the lower half of the board, where you might surround a "2" with some Mines.

Mines

Mine pieces hinder movement. Depending on where the enemy places his Mines, it may be an advantage to keep them armed. They can serve as barriers and choke points.

Draws

Sometimes an effective strategy is to attack a high ranking enemy piece with one of yours that is an equal rank. Both pieces will die, but if the enemy lacks any other higher ranking pieces, then it evens the playing field.