CATAN - historical scenarios
| Historical scenarios I: Alexander the Great & Cheops | |
|---|---|
| Game data | |
| author | Klaus Teuber |
| graphic | Marion Pott |
| publishing company | cosmos |
| Publishing year | 1998 |
| Art | Material expansion |
| Teammates | 3 to 4 |
| Duration | about 90 minutes |
| Age | from 10 years on |
| Historical Scenarios II: Troy & The Great Wall | |
|---|---|
| Game data | |
| author | Klaus Teuber |
| graphic | Marion Pott , Michaela Schelk |
| publishing company | cosmos |
| Publishing year | 2001 |
| Art | Material expansion |
| Teammates | 4 or 6 |
| Duration | about 90 minutes |
| Age | from 10 years on |
The historical scenarios are an expansion of the board game The Settlers of Catan by Klaus Teuber . They were published by Kosmos-Verlag in 1998 and 2001 , can only be played together with the base game and thus differ from the historical games that can be played without the base game. The illustrations are by Tanja Donner, Marion Pott, Michelle Schelk and Juergen Zimmermann.
There are the "Historical Scenarios I" for 3 or 4 players with the scenarios "Cheops" and "Alexander" and the "Historical Scenarios II" for 4 or 6 players with the scenarios "Troy" and "The Great Wall". All scenarios are played on a given game board.
Historical
In the second issue of the Siedlerzeitung, Klaus Teuber announced a historical scenario called "Ramses", which was to be printed as a poster and available at trade fairs and events. However, it was only printed after the announcement and since Ramses II had not had any pyramids built, it was given the title “ Cheops ” because this pharaoh, who lived from about 2620 to 2580 BC Lived near today's Cairo, the Cheops pyramid , while Ramses from about 1303 to 1213 BC. BC Lived and u. a. had the rock temple of Abu Simbel built. Any additional game material required was printed on the edge of the poster, had to be cut out for playing and glued to thicker cardboard. The poster was sold out quickly after it was published, even if there were a few printing errors, e.g. B. contained missing gold fields. In 1998 it appeared as part of the first historical scenarios with a foldable game board consisting of 6 square parts, on the back of which the scenario "Alexander" was depicted. In 2001 the second and so far last historical scenarios appeared.
content
Historical scenarios I
- 1 game board printed on both sides (Cheops or Alexander the Great)
- Game material made of cardboard (must be removed from punched sheets):
- 60 stone blocks (pyramid building blocks), 11 each of red, yellow, blue and white and 16 black
- 1 card "Pharaoh's Blessing"
- 3 cards "Pharaoh's curse" (front) or "1st, 2nd and 3rd adviser" (back)
- 32 ships, 8 each of red, yellow, blue and white (only necessary if the seafarer extension is not available)
- 40 gold pieces
- 28 event chips (for "Alexander the Great")
- 1 Alexander toy figure
- 2 rules of the game, square, 2 sides each
Historical scenarios II
- 1 game board printed on both sides (Troy or The Great Wall)
- Game material made of cardboard (must be removed from punched sheets):
- 30 wall sections, 5 each in one color (for The Great Wall)
- 35 Steppe Riders (for The Great Wall)
- 7 penalty chips (for the Great Wall)
- 1 pirate figure
-
6 decision cards (for Troy)
- 42 ship tiles, 7 each in one color (for Troy)
- 10 2: 1 trade cards (for Troy)
- 2 victory point markers Troy and Mycenae (for Troy)
- 30 trade point chips (for Troy)
- 1 set of instructions, 8 pages
- 1 note for the game of six
In the rules of the game for the respective scenarios, the historical and literary backgrounds are briefly discussed.
Special elements of the individual scenarios
Cheops
In the foundation phase , each player builds 3 settlements, but these are limited to the banks of the Nile and the delta. Only in the course of the game can the interior of the country and the mountains of the Sinai to the east and the forests on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean be settled.
In addition to the other structures, all players and the imaginary pharaoh build a pyramid together. To do this, the players must build a settlement on a pyramid building site west of the Nile and can then contribute to the pyramid for 1 ore and 1 clay building blocks. The player with the most building blocks receives Pharaoh's blessing (3 victory points), the player or players with the fewest suffer from the Pharaoh's curse, i.e. H. 2 points will be deducted from them. The Pharaoh contributes a building block for every seven. This is important because if the pyramid is finished or the Pharaoh blocks all of his stones before a player reaches 12 points, the game ends.
In contrast to the basic game, players can use the other players' harbors if they can be reached via their own trading route, but have to pay the owner gold to use them. The same applies to the pyramid building sites. The players receive gold at the beginning and as income for settlements and cities on one of the two gold fields. Furthermore, unlike in the basic game, there are no victory points for the longest trade route and, unlike the seafarer expansion, ships may not be moved, but there does not have to be a settlement between a ship and a road.
Alexander
Alexander the Great , King of Macedon , started in 334 BC. A campaign of conquest against the Persian Empire , for which he needed ten years, but 323 BC. He did not die in battle, but of fever. His journey through the Middle East and Northern Egypt to India is re-enacted in this scenario, but about two hours are enough.
It is the only scenario in which there is no separate start-up phase. The players establish the first settlements on Alexander's migration route by buying settlements. From these settlements they settle the surrounding areas in order to generate income with which they support Alexander's move. Until they are able to do so, they draw cards from a supply pile. Whoever succeeds best in supporting Alexander by helping him build bridges and statues, as well as winning battles and fighting the famine in their homeland, becomes their first adviser and receives 4 victory points for this. But the second and third best helpers also become advisors and receive 3 and 2 points, respectively. Of course, everyone tries to outdo the other, because as with the longest trade route, these victory points change to the better supporter. The game ends as soon as a player has 14 victory points or Alexander reaches his goal Persepolis .
Troy
Unlike in the other scenarios, 2 or 3 players play together on the one hand, but each individually on the other, because at the beginning each player draws one of the decision cards with which it is determined whether he will support the Greek city of Mycenae or Troy in the war between the two cities. Each player tries to keep secret which city he supports for as long as possible in order to emerge as the sole winner of the fight. The cities are supported by donations of raw materials, grain and wood support Mycenae, ore and wool Troy. But clay can also be donated, because for each donation the player receives a trade card, 2 of which he needs to build a ship with wood and wool. With these ships he improves his trading opportunities, receives victory points and opportunities to influence the donations.
As soon as a certain number of raw materials has been donated (10 or more for 4 or 13 or more for 6 players) a battle and the city starts; for which most of the donations have been received; receives one point, which the city's supporters can secretly add to their own points. As soon as a player has reached 15 points or a city has won the last battle, the game ends.
The great wall
This scenario, also designed for 4 or 6 players, takes the players to China . Each player is responsible for a section of the Great Wall of China that was built for almost 2,700 years. By building the wall in 5 stages, players try to prevent steppe riders from the north from conquering their landscapes. In addition, the players are threatened by pirates who block 7 ports on one and thus make trading more difficult. The steppe riders come into play when the players build further settlements or expand settlements into cities. They then gather north of the wall, attack in the yield phase and break through the wall if it does not have enough watchtowers. If a player could not prevent the breakthrough in his wall section, he receives a penalty chip, which deducts one point.
The game ends here when a player reaches 10 victory points or the wall has been breached 5 (with 4 players) or 7 times (with 6 players). In this case everyone has lost, the player with the most victory points is the best loser.
Special
In April 2002 Willi Breuckmann offered "Cheops" on his website www.catanien.de as a play-by-email game (PBeM). 4 players who had previously registered could play there together, and each player was notified by email when it was his turn. At first eight, from February 2006 18 virtual tables, a total of 161 games were played in which 261 players took part until the end of the game. One game lasted about 2 months. In March 2007 he had to discontinue the offer due to time constraints, even if he was able to automate some functions over time, time-consuming interventions were necessary again and again.
Since December 2005 "Troja" could also be played in the Catan Online World. The structure was a little different than the original and it could only be played by four people. There was also a variant in which the fields were placed randomly.
variants
In the Catan News 1/2001 the variant "Upswing in Egypt" was published in which in addition to the printed number chips the number chips from the basic game are used to bring a little more variability into the game.
For the Catan Online World there was a variant from July 2007 with the following changes:
1. Enhancing the benefits of shipbuilding
- The ships are now built in the following order:
- A) 3: 1 trade B) Exchange card with the support row C) 2 victory points D) 2: 1 trade in raw materials of your choice E) 2 victory points F) Take a card from the support row. G) 2 victory points
- Access to the support row is therefore earlier and 6 instead of 3 victory points can be secured through shipbuilding.
2. Rule change "Displacement of the Sea People"
Previously, with a "7", only players with ships or settlements on the coast could be affected by the sea people, now you have the additional option of placing the ship on a land space on the coast. On a land space, like a robber, it blocks the resource income of this space and you can - as usual in the basic game - draw a resource card from the owner of a settlement / city on the occupied space. Its function does not change on sea squares. The ship cannot be placed on land spaces inside.
Availability
Both historical scenarios are out of print at the publisher and will probably no longer be produced in the future, individual dealers can still have them in stock.
In 2014, The Settlers of Catan - Ancient Egypt appeared as a limited collector's edition containing elements of the “Cheops” scenario.
Translations
- Danish: The Settlers fra Catan: Historiske Scenarian 1 (Danspil)
- Dutch: Historische Scenario's I, Historische Scenario's II (999 Games)
Reviews
- Spielbox issue 1/99: "Settlers and no end? Scenarios Cheops & Alexander the Great"
- Spielbox issue 1/02: Brief review of historical scenarios II