CATAN - Seafarers Extension
| The seafarers | |
|---|---|
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| Game data | |
| author | Klaus Teuber |
| graphic |
Marion Pott (1997 edition), Tanja Donner (2003 and 2006 edition), Michael Menzel (2010 edition) |
| publishing company | cosmos |
| Publishing year | 1997 |
| Art | Material expansion |
| Teammates | 3 to 4 to 6 (with extension) |
| Duration | approx. 90-180 minutes |
| Age | from 12 years |
Catan - Seafarers Expansion is an addition to the Catan board game by Klaus Teuber for initially 3 to 4 players , published in 1997 as "The Seafarers Expansion" (from 2006 "The Settlers of Catan - Seafarers Expansion") . The expansion for 5 and 6 players was also released in 1997. Marion Pott and Karin Späth were responsible for the graphics and the illustration. The game was published by Franckh Kosmos Verlag in Stuttgart .
With the expansion, ships were added as a new component. The landscapes are now put together to form several small or larger islands, which can then be connected to each other by ships. Depending on the scenario, the new islands are known to the players, then special victory points can be obtained for colonization, or the islands must first be discovered. Then the explorer receives a raw material from the corresponding income field. Gold river fields were added as additional land fields. Settlements and cities that are built on its corners allow the players to choose any raw materials if they are successful. With a pirate it is possible for the players on a 7 to hinder the other players on their voyages of discovery.
At the same time an ideas competition was started, the best entries were published in 2000 in the book about playing . This also led to scenarios being published on the Internet. In the period that followed, new scenarios were also published in the Catan News , some of which were then included in the new edition from 2003 or programmed for the CD-ROM or Catan Online World.
content
- Expansion for 3 to 4 players (1997 edition):
- 14 frame parts
- 24 hexagonal fields with "wavy" back
- 12 × water
- 3 × desert
- 2 x gold river, mountain and hill country each
- 1 × arable land, forest and pasture land
- 8 victory point chips
- 10 number chips with "wavy" back
- 60 ships (15 per color)
- 1 black pirate ship, initially the size of the other ships, later it was replaced by the barbarian ship from the Cities & Knights expansion.
- 5 special harbors and seven 3: 1 harbors for laying on water fields
- 1 set of instructions, 16 pages
- Additional material for 5 to 6 players (1997 edition, initially in a blister pack, later also in a sturdy cardboard box):
- 30 ships (15 each per color)
- 8 sea fields with "wavy" back
- 1 gold field with "wavy" back
- 6 victory point chips
- 1 set of instructions, 12 pages (12th page contains 6 building cost cards)
Modifications
When the Catan board games were redesigned in 2003, the Seafarers' expansion also received plastic toy figures. The ships now resemble Viking longships with a square sail, the pirate sits on a raft with his stolen goods. The victory point chips were given a round shape, their number was increased significantly, as a larger amount is required for the new scenarios. The harbor tiles are similar to the harbors on the frame of the new basic game. The game instructions have lost their square format and are now in A4 format. The structure of the scenarios is now no longer square or rectangular, but rather hexagonal. Since a frame is already included in the base game, the number of frame parts of the Seafarer expansion has been reduced. Approx. In 2005, the characters were colored a little darker so that details could be better recognized.
The new graphics are by Michaela Schelk, the illustrations by Tanja Donner, the characters were designed by Andreas Klober.
In 2010 the landscape and sea fields were redrawn by Michael Menzel.
Scenarios
Several scenarios were released with the Seafarers expansion:
- To new shores
- Starting from the island known from the basic game, players can discover 4 smaller islands that consist of 1 to 3 land spaces.
- The four islands / the six islands
- The players have 4 or 6 (with 5 or 6 players) islands at their disposal, which consist of 2 to 7 land fields.
- Oceania (from 2003 The Fog Island, from 2009 Oceania again)
- Starting from a larger island, the players go on a journey of discovery into the unknown, at the end of which the legendary El Dorado awaits.
- Through the dessert
- Starting from a large island, the players can discover 3 smaller islands, which consist of 1 to 3 land fields and an area delimited by the desert.
- New world
- Here all land and water fields are mixed and randomly laid out, creating a new island world over and over again.
- The Great Crossing (only included in the 1997 version)
- The players connect 2 opposite islands with trade lines for which special victory points are obtained.
- Greater Catan (only included in the 1997 version)
- A second basic game is required for this. The island known from the basic game is set up as the starting island and an additional 6 islands with 1 to 6 land spaces. In the course of the game, number chips have to be transferred from the starting island to the small island, as a result the raw material yields on this island decrease and only those who can settle the small islands in time win.
- The Forgotten Tribe (only from 2003)
- The players start on an elongated island in the middle, which is surrounded by smaller islands. There you have to discover development cards, ports and victory points. (The scenario was originally published under the title "Friendly Neighbors" in the Catan News 2002).
- Fabrics for Catan (only from 2003)
- Starting from one narrow island in the north and one in the south, it is important to establish trade connections with islets in between in order to negotiate materials. (The scenario was originally published under the title "Coffee for Catan" in Catan News 2/2000).
- The Pirate Island (only from 2003)
- Starting from a large island in the east, the players try to drive away pirates who have landed on the western islands. (The scenario was originally published in Catan News 1/99 with the same title, but with a slightly different structure).
- The Catan Wonders (only from 2003)
- The players try to build expensive structures (miracles) on their island world. Each structure is built in 4 stages, each of which must first meet a different condition. (The scenario was originally published with the same title but with a slightly different structure in Catan News 1/2000.)
Rule changes
In the first edition, a player who moved the pirate could steal a resource card from all players who had a ship on the neighboring sea edges, this was changed in the second edition: Now only one player can be stolen.
At the end of 2008, following suggestions from gamers and numerous test games in the development of the S&R PC game, the scenarios "To New Shores", "The Four Islands" and "Through the Desert" were changed. The distance between the islands and the required victory points have been changed so that seafaring now plays a more decisive factor. In addition, the number of land fields has been reduced for 3 players and slightly increased for 4 players, and colonizing new islands is now rewarded with 2 instead of one special victory point. The scenario "The Fog Island" has been replaced by the scenario "Oceania", in which there are two starting islands instead of one and in the sea area to be discovered there are 2 more land fields. The scenarios were initially programmed for the PC game and from 2009 onwards were also printed in the rule booklets of the seafaring expansion. Owners of old extensions can download them from the Catan GmbH website. variants
In the book of the game, at the suggestion of many players, the variant was published that the pirate also blocks the exchange function of the ports on whose sea space he is standing.
criticism
Overall, the first expansion was well received by the players. Independent game reviews mostly recommend a buy. Accordingly, the extension has sold more than 100,000 times within a few weeks.
Use at championships
In the preliminary decision tournaments for the German championship, a seafaring scenario designed by the Herne game center was played as the decisive game until 2005. From 2006 the organizers of the ranking tournaments could choose whether to play the seafaring scenario proposed by the game center, but a seafaring scenario was always played at the final tournament in Essen. The basic game is only played at the World Championships, as the Seafarer expansion is not yet available in all countries.
Anniversary extensions
The colonies
In 2007 the scenario "The Colonies" appeared for the 10th anniversary. The anniversary scenario is a revised version of the scenario of the same name from the "Book for Playing" with additional game material.
Game material
- Game material made of cardboard (delivered on 5 punched sheets; the parts have to be removed after purchase):
- 2 frame parts
- 4 overview cards (construction costs and possible uses of the explorer and goods tiles)
- 4 water fields in the style of the new edition from 2003
- 3 jungle fields with the numbers 4, 9 and 10
- 2 volcanic fields with the numbers 3 and 6
- 1 gold field in the style of the new edition from 2003 with the number 5
- 92 colony tiles:
- 24 discovery tiles (palm trees on dark green background)
- 22 gold plates (nuggets on a brown background)
- 22 ore tiles (stone on blue background)
- 24 gemstone tiles (3 gemstones on a beige background)
- Plastic game material:
- 20 support points in 4 colors (5 each blue, orange, red and white)
- 4 war fleets in 4 colors (1 each blue, orange, red and white)
- 1 pirate (black war fleet)
- How to play
The legend of the pirates
In 2017, for the 20th birthday, the scenario expansion "The Legend of the Pirates" for the "Seafarers" expansion appeared. It was developed by Klaus Teuber together with his son Benjamin. They were available both individually and in combination with the Seafarer extension. It contains four scenarios that can be played in four chapters one after the other with an overall rating or individually. Each chapter begins with a short story that defines the task for the players. You also need the material from the basic game and the Seafarers expansion.
Included scenarios
- The shipwrecked:
- The players have the task of rescuing shipwrecked people stranded on the desert island southwest of Catan and then digging for ore on the island, which does not exist on the playable southwestern part of Catan.
- The raid:
- The player's task is to find gold on an island north of Catan in order to release Cataners captured by pirates.
- The fight against the pirates:
- In this chapter, players must sink the pirate ships that have gathered east of Catan and build settlements on small islands rich in gold
- The Spice Islands:
- The final chapter is about discovering spice islands southeast of Catan and exchanging raw materials for spices.
Rule adjustments
- Two ships from different players may stand on a waterway.
- Generally 3 identical raw materials can be exchanged for 1 different raw material.
- The robber may only be placed on landscapes on which players with at least 4 victory points have built settlements or cities.
- In the foundation phase, the players build 3 settlements, 1 of them on one of the settlement building sites provided on the coast and 2 inside the island.
Game material
- Plastic toy figures:
- 4 sets in 4 player colors each with:
- 12 (3 × 4) units
- 4 (4 × 1) support points
- 8 (4 × 2) marker stones
- Neutral game material:
- 15 black pirate ships
- 4 sets in 4 player colors each with:
- Game material made of cardboard (must be removed from punched sheets):
- 6 frame parts
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9 landscape fields (marked with a sea dragon in one corner):
- 4 spice fields
- 2 gold flow fields
- 3 sea fields, one field each on the back, forest and desert
- 2 number chips, marked with a sea dragon on the back
- 13 friend cards (4 for chapter 1, 5 for chapter 2, 4 for chapter 3)
- 12 hexagonal shipwrecked tiles
- 12 gold flow tiles
- 1 progress board "panning for gold"
- 25 round lawn ore chips
- 1 special victory point card "Greatest Pirate Scare"
- 4 ship boards
- 4 pirate camp tiles
- 4 settlement markers
- 4 construction cost cards for chapters 1 & 2
- 4 construction cost cards for chapters 3 & 4
- 16 box tiles
- 1 overview table chapters 1 & 2
- 1 overview table chapters 3 & 4
- 24 playing cards:
- 4 personal overview cards each for chapters 1 to 4
- 16 pirate cards (chapter 3)
- 10 Trade Option Cards (Chapter 4)
- 30 spice cards, 10 each of pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg (Chapter 4)
- 11 zip bags for the game material (7 large and 4 small)
- 1 sheet of labels to stick on the zip bags
- Game instructions (40 DIN A5 pages, multicolored)