Gunjin Shogi (Concept)

Gunjin Shogi

CONCEPT

A war-themed board game of Japanese origin, where the initial placement of each player's army is hidden from their opponent, forcing them to deduce their enemy's composition. It is considered a predecessor to the French game L'Attaque, which inspired the modern Stratego series.

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Overview

Gunjin shogi, also known by its proper romanization gunjin shōgi (or gunjin shougi) and as "Soldier Chess" or "Japanese Military Chess", is a Japanese board game believed to have originated in the late 19th century. Sometimes considered a variation of traditional shogi, gunjin shogi uses a unique board layout and a unique set of pieces with special rules involving board setup, hidden pieces, and piece strength. Unlike traditional shogi, this game was intended for children. The game's origins are currently unknown, with the earliest mention of the game taking place in the year 1895. It is notable for being a precursor to the French game L'Attaque, which led to the Western board game Stratego (Franchise). Several different publishers have created their own variations of the game, with special rules, boards, and pieces. There have been several video game adaptations of gunjin shogi, most of which are Japan-exclusive, and has been included in Clubhouse Games under the name "Field Tactics".

Game Rules

Players start the game by arranging their pieces on each of their board's spaces face-down, hidden from the opponent. The objective is to capture pieces through attacking and defending, with the end goal being to either occupy the enemy player's two-tile "headquarters" space with one of their higher-rank pieces, destroy all opposing pieces, or, in some rule variations, to defeat the opponent's highest-ranking piece. Each piece has their own specific orthogonal movement pattern and "strength", which is what determines which of the two pieces are captured (allowing defending pieces to capture attacking pieces). These pieces are:

General (大将) > Lieutenant General (中将) > Major General (少将) - Can move one square in any direction. Defeats all pieces with a lower rank, as well as every other piece except the Mine and, for the highest-ranked General, the Spy. Can capture the headquarters space.
Colonel (大佐) > Lieutenant Colonel (中佐) > Major (少佐) - Can move one square in any direction. Defeats all pieces with a lower rank, and can defeat all other pieces except the Generals, the Plane, the Tank, and the Mine. Can capture the headquarters space.
Captain (大尉) > First Lieutenant (中尉) > Second Lieutenant (少尉) - Can move one square in any direction. Defeats all pieces with a lower rank, and can defeat all other pieces except the Generals, higher Officers, the Plane, the Tank, and the Mine.
Plane (飛行機) - Can move any number of squares forwards or backwards, as well as one space left or right. Can ignore the entrance rule while moving and can jump over any number of pieces along the way. Can defeat all other pieces except the Generals.
Tank (タンク) - Can move one square in any direction, or two squares forward. Can defeat all except the Generals, the Plane, the Engineer, and the Mine.
Cavalry (騎兵) - Can move one square in any direction, or two squares forward. Can only defeat the Engineer and the Spy.
Engineer (工兵) - Can move any number of squares in any direction. Can only defeat the Tank, the Spy, and the Mine.
Spy (スパイ) - Can move one square in any direction. Can only defeat the highest-ranked General.
Mine (地雷) - Cannot move. Ties with all pieces except the Plane and the Engineer. Cannot be placed at the entrance spaces.
Flag (軍旗) - Cannot move. Shares the same strength as the piece in the row and column directly behind it, immediately losing if there is no piece behind it. Cannot be placed at the entrance spaces and cannot be placed at the back row.

There are multiple variations to board size and piece count, with the most common being the 8×6 game board with 23 pieces (1 of each General and higher Officer, 2 of each lower Officer, 2 Planes, 2 Tanks, 1 Cavalry, 2 Engineers, 1 Spy, 2 Mines, and 1 Flag). The center of the board has multiple "entrances" by which most pieces can only go through to move-between boards. The game traditionally uses a third player as a referee, which secretly determines the outcome of each attack. Some variations use new pieces, such as a Marshal.

Comparison with Stratego

It is sometimes considered a distant ancestor with the popular modern Western game Stratego (Franchise), with similar rules for board setup, hidden pieces, and piece strengths. There are, however, notable differences:

Gunjin shogi generally gives each player a total of 23 pieces, comprised of 16 different types of pieces, while Stratego gives each player 40 pieces, comprised of 12 different types of pieces. Stratego uses a simpler set of pieces with rank-based strength and a limited amount of pieces with special movement properties (the only ones being the immovable Bomb and Flag pieces and the any-distance Scout).
Gunjin shogi generally uses a 6×8 board, split into each player's 6×4 placement zone (with the two center spaces closest to the player combined into a single "headquarters" space) and separated by two bridges (which determine how they connect to each-other but are not separate spaces). In Stratego, this is changed to a 10×10 board, split into each player's 10×4 placement zone (with no headquarters space) and separated by a neutral 10×2 zone (with three 2×2 spaces that are passable and two 2×2 spaces that are not).
The end goal of gunjin shogi is generally for a player to occupy their opponent's headquarters space with either a Flag piece or one of the six highest-ranked pieces, while the end goal of Stratego is to have any piece take control of the opponent's Flag piece.
Gunjin shogi generally require a referee to quietly resolve battles, and that pieces are kept face-down throughout the game. In Stratego, this is changed so that both pieces are temporarily revealed while resolving each battle.

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