Most and Least Valuable
 
   It's been said by many that the Marshal is the most valuable man on the board. Since no other piece is higher that theory may hold some validity. However since the Marshal is vulnerable to an always unknown piece one could argue that while he is indeed valuable, he has certain limitations.
   I've always said the General is the most valuable since he can hit anything that moves ONCE the Marshal has been identified. But one could argue that the Colonel would be equally as valuable once the General and Marshal have been identified and so on and so on down the line............
   Can a scout be more valuable than the highest ranking men? At the end of a game when the flag is open and your last few pieces are trapped, the scout can zip across and capture the flag from the back of the field. Or maybe the Miner is the most valuable since he is the only one that can defuse a bomb and potentially win the game.  
   The value of any piece is directly related to the particular point of any game. Yet the Seregant, in in my opinion, the least valuable. Sure you can say all you want abuot how he can defeat a 9 and an 8 and even a spy but who minds losing a 7?  
   Veteran players know that it's not always the quality of the player advantage you have but it's in the quantity of the players in the advantage. Having a General advantage is not going to win you any games if you're down a few Majors and some Captains.  
   Proper Army management and adapability to the conditions of the field will win more games than the pettyness of who is more valuable. Time and time again a good player will win more games when he or she is down a rank but yet maintains field position and works the board. Whether you capture the flag or beat your opponent into submission, in the end no one single piece is more valuable than YOUR flag. Try not to lose it.

My personal opinion is that the flag is the most valuable piece.

Yea I agree Web of Pain you really are a piece

its rare that a minor has much value unless it is being defended by a piece of higher value. sometimes you can sneak one by, but not very often.

I think miners are the most important, due to the fact at most end games situations do require both players to have miners whether the flag is open or not. By using your miners even in an open flag situation they still defuse bombs that can sometimes be in the way of movement and also they cut the odds of finding the open flag by disposing of bombs it gives you more chance of finding the flag....Also everybody doesnt worry as much when a known marshal is comming towards your back lines at the end game senario.....but an unnown possible miner comming at your back 2 rows and you feel you cant take the chance and let it through therefore many a times you can pick up pieces by bluffing the piece is a miner....In some games ive played were i have captured 3,4 and even 5 miners(sometimes due to lotto with luits etc or the opposing player having no respect for his miners and uses them to scout) during the start and middle game i feel alot more relaxed and alot more confident of winning the game.

This will take some thought, but I think that the results will be enlightening.  Suppose each player has only the following 20 pieces, all unseen, in a neutral position on the board:  3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9, S, B, B, B, B, F.  One piece from your graveyard will come back to life and return to your army in a neutral position.  It may come back as seen or as unseen.  Your opponent will not get any piece back.  The list below shows the 20 possibilities, an “s” next to the number means that your piece comes back as seen, so your opponent will know what it is.
 
1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  B,  1s,  2s,  3s, 4s,  5s,  6s,  7s,  8s,  9s,  Bs
 
Your task is to rank, in order from best to worst, these 20 possibilities.  
 
I think all would agree that an unseen general (2) is the best and a seen bomb (Bs) is the worst, but about the rest, many decisions will have to been made.  For example, is an unseen major better than a seen general?  Is a colonel or even a major better than a marshal since your opponent has a spy?  What’s better, an additional miner or another sergeant?  And where does an additional unseen bomb rank in all of this?
 
It will be best if each person thinks through this on their own and makes their list before reading others opinions.  Later I will post my best-to-worst ordering.  

this scenario is completely contingent upon your opponent. Although there are 100 factors that would predicate what piece I need and when, I will rank the following based on only one aspect, whether or not the player USUALLY has a bombed or unbombed flag.
 
Unbombed flag – 2, 2s, 1s, 1, 3, 3s, 4, 4s, 5, 5s, 6, 6s, 7, 7s, 9, 9s, b, bs, 8, 8s
 
I would rather have a seen marsh for this reason. I am winning, and I smell an open flag, so I am going on the attack. With a seen marsh, it is easier to locate the opponents spy. And when they move it, you can take it out with a col or major. Also, sometimes when you have an unseen  marsh, certain players will take a chance and ram their spy into an unseen piece, which could result in the marsh going bye bye with no chance to attack.  
 
The only thing that could change would be a bomb placement. Say you have a cased in tripod and your opponent has removed one of those bombs. I'd say the bombs value just moved up to right after the 1.
 
Bombed flag – 2, 2s, 1, 1s, 3, 3s, 4, 4s, 5, 5s, 8, 8s, 7, 7s, 6, 6s, b, bs, 9, 9s
 
In this case I'd rather keep my marsh unseen as I will hold it back on my side, and pick off any one piece that challenges it. This way I gain an extra piece (anything is helpful) before it is seen. When your opponent is bombed in, it is better to widdle down pieces first, to make it easier to get your miners to more obvious flag locations.  
 
Taking a 6 vs 7 is really irrelevant, so I'd rather take a 7. Pieces are going to get traded down in this scenario regardless of who has what, until you get to about the 6 or 7. Trade 6s, and bluff a 7 as an 8, and hope they only have a miner on that side to counter. Obviously its easier to bluff a 7, as they are usually in positions where it could easily be an 8. if you have a 6 in good miner position, then obviously you would use this instead. Just move it like an 8 and you’re good either way.  

                 2, 3, 1, 4, 2s, 3s, 1s, 5, 4s, 6, 5s, 6s, 8, 7, 7s, 9, 8s, 9s, B, Bs
 
Unlike technique and sauce, I would rank a colonel higher than a marshal because if the other colonels trade, then you have the highest piece on the board and no worries about the spy.  I also disagree with sauce that a seen marshal could ever be better than an unseen one.  If a piece that could be the spy comes next to your unseen marshal, just attack it.  Then your marshal will be seen and your opponent has one less piece than he otherwise would have.  
 
I valued an unseen 3, 1, and even a 4 above a seen 2.  Since an opposing piece could just avoid it, a seen 2 can only do damage if accompanied by a scout and another piece in order to trap.  It’s also quite possible that this trapping will be thwarted by an opponent who could trade (or beat) the other trapping piece.  An additional unseen 4, however, would be very powerful if the colonels and majors get traded.  It could be used with an unseen captain in a 50-50 to try net a captain.
 
When it comes to mid-level pieces, a seen piece is vulnerable, and even if it survives to become a power piece, then it could just be avoided.  That’s why I’d rather have an unseen 6 than a seen 5.  Another advantage is that unseen mid-level pieces can pose as miners in order to pick off an enemy 6 or 7 if they get near a bomb-protected flag.  
 
Regarding low-level pieces, I would prefer an extra miner to a sergeant if unseen.  If seen, I would prefer the sergeant.  A seen miner eliminates all possibility of surprise.  Likewise, a scout loses a lot of its value when it becomes known.  I put the bombs last, because in a close end-game, a slight advantage in moveable pieces can make all the difference.  

Every piece has his value.

Is it just me, or has Xerxes completely given all of you a headache from reading all of that crap.... with all those numbers in a line etc.... completely made me not want to continue reading