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Mayfair the Settlers of Catan Board Game

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When I first read about Mayfair the settlers of Catan board game on the Penny Arcade blog, they appeared to like it very much, so I figured I’d try it out one day, and now I finally bought it (along with the Cities and Knights and Seafarer’s expansions) and played it with a friend of mine.

It appears a bit simple at first (a 20 or so grid board with wooden play pieces) and the rules seem perplexed but once you master it, the game becomes a lot of fun.

You’ve a grid of plots that each have different terrain. That terrain interprets to a resource (i.e. a Forest gives you Wood, a Field gives you Grain, etc.). You place numbered disks on each plot which represent to numbers on a 2d6 roll (2-12, except for 7).

catan cities and knights

When that number comes up, any player with a settlement on the edge of the plot that has the number rolled gets a resource (in the form of cards in a deck). You can then take resources to build more settlements, cities and roads. You can also buy a card from the Development deck which is slanted towards one type of card unfortunately (the Knight) but some of the cards let you do stuff like buy something for less, steal resources from other players and the like.

There’s this robber concept where a robber sits on a desert plot and, when 7 is rolled, is moved by the player who rolled that 7. The robber cleans out anyone with more than 7 resource cards (you ditch half back to the deck) and then the player who rolled the 7 gets to take a card from a player adjacent to the plot where the robber is now located. Also, resources cannot be drawn from the plot the robber is on. It creates an interesting dynamic in the game and throws a nice curve into game play.

expansion

The ultimate destination is to get 10 victory points which you get by accepting settlements (1 VP), cities (2 VP), and any bonuses from the Development deck or by having the largest army (most knight cards above 3) or the longest contiguous road on the map.

You are able to make the game a bit better (in my opinion) by getting the Catan: Cities & Knights Expansion – New 4th Edition! Expansion which evolves the game play a bit more.

Even though the wooden pieces are a little bit of retro, they’re still nicely made, the cards are so solid and not flimsy, and the game board is made of solid cardboard which is very good in terms of the contents of the box.

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Author: Sammy IJ

Sam runs a blog that will help buyers and hobbyist to make the right buying decision with his cutting edge game reviews and toys reviews

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Mayfair the Settlers of Catan- Building a winning foundation

The first step in any Mayfair the Settlers of Catan game is to build your first two settlements. Your actions here can lead to brilliant success or horrible disaster. This is no exaggeration. A misplaced settlement can leave you blocked from essential resources and deadlocked for the entirety of the game. With the random set-up of the board this isn’t common, but you still need to build wisely. In-depth strategies abound, but here are some basic hints to get started:

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· Diversify- Try and build near many different resources. Don’t be so focused on brick and wood that you neglect to prepare for later in the game when you (and everyone else) will want wheat and ore.

· Watch the numbers- Consider the probability of rolling certain numbers. Building on all 3’s and 11’s can leave you in a world of pain. The number tiles have dots that indicate probability. The more dots, the higher the chance of rolling that number. Try to pick good numbers and diversify.

· Watch your placement and that of other players- After your initial setup all building has to come from roads you’ve already laid. Leave enough room for expansion, but not so much that you get cut off. Also, watch the other players to try and anticipate if their building will interfere with your plans.

· Pay attention to ports- In Mayfair the Settlers of Catan, ports can make a great deal of difference when seeking resources. See if you can build near a port for a resource you anticipate having in abundance.

Settlers of Catan not enough? Try these Expansions

buy settlers of catan If you feel that you’ve sufficiently conquered the terrain of Catan and are itching for more exploration, never fear. The makers of Settlers of Catan have created various expansions to satisfy your need for adventure. The principle expansions are listed below. All are for 3-4 players with a possible expansion for up to 6 players.

Seafarers of Catan (Catan: Seafarers)

catan board game

Seafarers extends the building area to the sea. Players are able to build shipping routes in addition to their roads on land. The robber from the original Settlers remains and an added pirate roams the sea. One major difference between Settlers and Seafarers is the introduction of scenarios. In Settlers the placement of tiles and play is random. Seafarers, on the other hand, includes scenarios that determine the board layout, number of victory points needed, and other factors.

Cities and Knights (Catan: Cities and Knights)

Cities and Knights changes the Settlers game even further. Not only do the building options for settlements increase, but players also build and maintain armies. Another major change is the introduction of commodities: special resources needed in improving cities and providing armies. New components affecting game play include barbarians that attack the island and a merchant that improves trading.

Traders and Barbarians

Traders and Barbarians

is in essence a collection of scenarios and special rules that can be combined to change game play. It is named for its flagship scenario which introduces the use of wagons to trade between settlements and barbarians who seek to disrupt trade.

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Settlers of Catan

Settlers of Catan is a board game. It is designed to be played by 3 or 4 players (in the standard game), or up to 5 or 6 players with various expansion modules. The game, which was originally designed by Klaus Teuber, is well suited to family play, since no player gets eliminated from the game, setting up the game is quite simple, yet game play is dynamic and can be exciting. To date, the game has been translated into 25 different languages, and has sold more than 11 million copies.

The object of the game is to setup a colony on a previously uninhabited island known as Catan. The island itself is presented using a number of hexagonal tiles which are laid out randomly at the start of the game so as to form a map.

The players turns involve resource management, and trading and interacting with other players. Each player’s turn involves a combination of luck and strategy, and the goal is accumulate victory points by building settlements and upgrading them to cities. There is no combat between the players, however players can harm each other’s progress by refusing to trade, blocking access to resources, or use of a robber character than is involved in the game.

As already mentioned, in addition to the main game, there are various expansion modules and scenarios available. These includes additions for adding more players, exploring an archipelago ("Seafarers of Catan"), and historical scenarios such as building the pyramids of Egypt, building the Great Wall of China, or expanding Alexander the Great’s empire.

Author: Sunil Tanna

By S. Tanna. Discover more about Settlers of Catan at http://www.brainchallenges.com/settlers_of_catan.php

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Winning at Settlers of Catan

Settlers of Catan is a great board game to play with a large group of people. There are many tips and strategies that you can use to put the odds of winning in your favor.

1.Expand

As soon as you are playing the game you want to expand it by building more roads and cities. When you build a ton of settlements and cities you will be able to get a ton of resources. Remember the more you have the more likely it will be that you get some resource every turn, which is always helpful.

By building roads as well as cities you can also create the longest road and which will give you a couple of victory points.

2.Don’t be a jerk, unless you are about to win

There are a couple ways to be a jerk to people in this game, most notably the infamous Robber and the Monopoly card. This is a game where you depend on other people, or other civilizations to help you trade with and to not turn against you. If you stab them in the back they will definitely remember it next time they have the robber.

Sometimes you have to put the robber somewhere and you aren’t going to hurt yourself so there are always exceptions to this rule. Likewise you don’t want to play the monopoly card unless you are going to win, or get very close to winning because of it.

3.Look for ports

Ports are always fun. They allow you to trade resources without having to rely on other people. At some point in the game it is probably your best interest to head over to a port, especially if it is a port that allows you to trade a resource you have a lot of.

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Author: John Rosenberg

For more on settlers of catan visit http://www.best-family-games.com/Settlers_of_Catan.html

For more games visit http://www.best-family-games.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Rosenberg

Settlers of Catan Board Game- The Next Generation

Buy mayfair the settlers of catan board game. This multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber will bring endless hours of enjoyment. Be the dominant force on Catan island. Find the latest edition in this storyline.

When settling obscure islands on Terra is no longer enough, where do you look for adventure? In the stars, of course! From the makers of the Settlers of Catan board game comes Starfarers of Catan.

starfarers of catan

The basic idea of settling and trading better than your opponents is the same, but the only other resemblance between Settlers and Starfarers is the inclusion of ore among the resources. Rather than the wheat and wood we know so well, starfarers are looking to produce and trade ore, food, carbon, fuel and trade goods. Instead of plots of land there are planets. Roads become spaceships, and beyond trading with other players, a starfarer seeks to trade with alien races.

starfarers

Also new to those familiar with Settlers is the addition of encounter cards. These add random events to the game that require decisions. In Settlers the resources tied to a plot of land are establish from the beginning. Starfarers do not know what resources a planet holds until they’ve landed on it. For all they know, a pirate could be lurking. Then they can only hope that their star fleet has the strength or speed to get away. If their spaceship is not strong enough to withstand attack, their only option is to trade with the pirate and risk being swindled or worse—losing honor, another new component to winning. In addition to colonizing and trade, Starfarers must also protect their good name.

Mayfair The Settlers Of Catan Board Game, Seafarers, Cities, Knights

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Mayfair the Settlers of Catan Board Game

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Mayfair the Settlers of Catan- Building a winning foundation

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