So, I recently found the motivation to tackle a card-by-card review of one of my most-played games Settler of Catan: The Card Game. But I started, and found that a number of the cards were so similar that I'd just repeat everything for each one. So here's a categorical review of the cards. They are broken into: Garrisons, Commerce-Producing Red Buildings, Fleets, Doubling Mills, Attacking Actions, Defending Actions, Alchemist, Caravan, Scout, Spy, Mint, Town Hall, Protection Red Buildings, Knights, Hand-Size Increasing Red Buildings, and Colossus.

Yes, I realize that it's 17 categories for only 62 cards, but this is a set-up to an individual expansion review, and almost all of the categories are expanded upon by cards in the the expansions, increasing the usefulness of each (Many expansions even add categories ). Also, you'll notice that categories with only a single card have a card that simply would not fit any other category. There are cards that are so singular (yet so valuable) that they deserve their own category (ie., the colossus).

Keep in mind that I have the 2005 edition, not the 2007(6?), so any changes to the rules/card text result (hopefully) from that.


Garrisons (x3) - Do not count the resources on the 2 neighboring regions when a Brigand Attack is rolled.
One of my good friends almost always stocks up on garrisons early in the game, and they always work for him. They give the windmill token straight-up, since if they come out, they probably won't be topped windmill-wise by fleets. Their real benefit comes from the negation of the two surrounding regions' resources as it counts toward Brigand Attacks. Even one of these often saves you a lot of hassle. You always want to set these (if you can) on the same spot as a doubling mill, since the resource cards surrounding these spots will be have the largest chance of filling up quickly. And THEN there's the Productive Year Event (x2), which gives each player a free resource of choice per garrison in principality! An event draw like that at the right time can give the garrison holder a fine advantage. My greatest beef with these: they require 2 of the most valued early-game resources. I often pass by them on my way to a first settlement (and slap my head when I get slaughtered by Brigands )

Commerce-Producing Red Buildings (x1 each) - No text, but the Marketplace, Counting House, and Merchant Guild give 2, 3, and 4 commerce points, for 2, 4, and 6 resources respectively.
The Marketplace is obviously the best deal out of these with its 2 resources for 2 commerce points, but the Merchant Guild can solidify your hold of the token for the rest of the game if you keep an eye on your opponent. Assuming the two of you have the same ability to get commerce points, and THEN you get the Guild, you're pretty much set.


Fleets (x1 for each resource) - You may trade 2 (insert resource here) for 1 resource of your choice (also, 1 commerce point). (Harbor) Each Trade Fleet you own is worth 1 additional Commerce Point (also 1 commerce point).
Early and mid-game this is the easiest to find, and cheapest way to get the windmill token, and the harbor is probably the only way to contend with the Merchant Guild for the token. Also, with a trade fleet and the corresponding doubling mill plopped between 2 like-regions, you will have a very powerful resource-production machine. This is easily my favorite category of cards to vye for.


Doubling Mills (x1 per resource except gold) - Doubles the (insert resource here) production of the neighboring (insert land type here)
There is one for every resource except gold. These are very good for a player with foresight. Set up your principality so that your 2 favored resources are on the same end, snag a scout at all costs, and double-up on the aforementioned resources. Then play the Sawmill, Woolen Mill, Foundry, Brick Factory, or Grain Mill, and never worry about these resources again!. It's even better if you have the corresponding fleet.

Attacking Actions (x2, x2, x3, and x1 respectively, according to order below) -
(Merchant) Take 2 resources of your choice from your opponent and give them 1 resource of your choice
(Arsonist) Roll! On a 1-5, your opponent must return a Building of your choice to his hand. If you roll a 6, you must return a Building of his choice to your hand. Counter card: Bishop
(Black Knight) Roll! On a 1-5, your opponent must return a Knight of your choice to his hand. If you roll a 6, you must return a Knight of his choice to your hand. Counter card: Herb Woman
(Brigands) Roll! On a 1-5, take 2 resources of your choice from your opponent. Roll a 6, and your opponent takes 2 resources of his choice from you. Counter card: Bishop

(Merchant) Since it's a guaranteed, this can be a very valuable card. Oftentimes, you don't want to help your opponent too much, so I usually simply take 2 and give 1 back (with a net result of simply taking 1 resource from opponent)
(Arsonist) I've always found this to be a very desperate play, unless you find yourself (as I sometimes have) with very low-costing buildings and your opponent has very high-costing ones. And of course, never use arsonist on a low-costing building. It's very fun to use this against someone using the mint strategy; target the mint, and listen to the curses . Interesting story, I once won on my opponent's turn because of this card. My ex-roommate played the card, and I countered with a Bishop. He rolled a 3, 4, 5, or 6 (can't remember which). The Bishop allows me to win on a 3, 4, 5, or 6 roll, so I killed off his Merchant Guild, gaining control of the windmill token in the process, and thusly got my 13th point! Let that be a lesson to the risks of this card.
(Black Knight) Only useful if you are fairly close in strength points, I've found. Still, it's often nice to use it just to get a card out of your hand, and can be a vexation to your opponent
(Brigands) Often as soon as I get this card, I look for a way to play it, and am fairly liberal (often too liberal) in it's playing. It's sort-of given that at a particular time, I will need resources, and to be able to take them from my good friend on the other side of the table is a very nice bonus. Keep in mind though, that he actually has to HAVE the resources you need for you to take them. Also realize the risk that instead of becoming 2 resources CLOSER to your goal build, you could end up 2 resources AWAY from, because you lose the Brigands roll... Use caution


Defending Actions (x2 each) -
(Herb Woman) Play against the Black Knight. The attacker loses on a roll of a 3, 4, 5, or 6. This card must be played before the attacker's die roll.
(Bishop) Play against Brigands or Arsonist. The attacker loses on a roll of a 3, 4, 5, or 6. This card must be played before th attacker's die roll.

(Herb Woman) Only useful if you have any knight at all, which, I'm ashamed to say, more often than not, I don't. But if you do, and you tend to be paranoid, this is a good card to keep especially is you have a hand-size increase building.
(Bishop) If I get a hand-size increase building, this is very often one of the first "preferment" hand additions, as it defends against the Brigands AND Arsonist. It is a very useful defense card to have, and a fine slap in the face when your opponent is in his most hopeful state (which is of course, what the game's all about )

Alchemist (x2) - Play this card before your die roll. Choose the result of the Production Die roll.[
I often find that this card has 2 times when it is most effective, mid-game, and endgame. In the mid-game, you're still sitting around hoping for a specific roll so that you can buy your second settlement/road, and it's probably still only a 1/6 chance of that particular resource coming up. You play an alchemist, getting that resource right off the bat, and you're 1/7 of the way closer to your next settlement (and probably 1/7 closer than your opponent). At the endgame, you've either spread yourself out so that each roll gets you 2-3 resources, or solidified on a single roll hope, so that a single roll could get you as many as 6 resources. If the latter case, alchemist is your friend indeed! Throw in some fleets, and you have pretty much any victory-point creating building you need.


Caravan - Exchange your resources with the caravan! Trade in 2 resources of your choice for 2 others of your choice.
Any catan player knows that it's not only how many resources you have, but WHICH resources you have, and that 3:1 (or 2:1) trade can hurt your supply. I'd say about 75% of the time when I play a caravan card, I'm able to use it in such a way that I can buy a red building from it. Very useful...

Scout (x2) - Play this card when building a settlement. Choose 2 Region Cards of your choice from the region stack. Reshuffle the region stack.
If you can get this in your starting hand, do so! If you can't, use that crappy excess gold you keep getting to search for one. If you can get the exact regions that you need, and then a doubling mill in the right spot... jackpot. (Hm... it's a good thing I'm doing this review. I've always played that you DON'T shuffle the region decks after playing a scout... oops. Well, you learn something new every day)


Spy (x3) - Search through your opponent's hand and select any 1 unit or action card. You may play that card immediately or add the card to your hand.
Early game, this is very useful for stealing scouts. After that, useful for nabbing fleets, and often thusly, the windmill token. I don't tend to use this on knights too much, but to each his own. Of course, if your opponent has a spy himself in his hand, nab that, and then use it against him as a second slap in the face. You may not think that this would happen to oft', but you'd be surprised . And of course, always try to memorize your opponent's hand to see if you need to start stocking up on bishops or arsonist soon (evil laugh).


Mint (x1) - You may trade 1 gold for 1 resource of your choice
When my friend and I first saw the card, we thought that it was insanely overpowered and the winner is determined by who draws it first. 100+ games later, and we know that it is a very, very costly non-VP-producing, arsonist-prone colossus (and not the good kind). It got even worse when we realized that you could only use its action once per turn*. It does provide a commerce point, which can help, but there are fewer gold regions than any other resources', and in the base deck, no corresponding doubling mill, so you have a lesser chance of receiving that precious gold. I'd say, if you have the resources and happen to have a perpetual crap-load of gold, why not go for it? Otherwise, pass it up.

*Edit: Never mind, there is no text saying that the mint can only be used once per turn. I still don't tend to exhaust too much energy on it, but it's certainly a better card than I'd thought.


Town Hall (x2) - Reduces the cost of selecting a card of your choice, from any expansion stack, by 1 resource.
Let me say right off the bat that I love cards like these (if they work, and this one does). They break the fourth wall by blatantly telling you the way the game functions, and draws your attention to that possibly enlightened strategy. With the town hall, if at any point you want a particular card (and once you know the cards, there will at almost every point of the game be just 1 card that you want), simply pay 1 resource, rather than 2. You will more often than not be able to get the card/cards you need, especially if you have a good memory. When deck-searching, don't forget to memorize the top 2-3 cards of the searched deck(s) (or more if you can)!


Protection Red Buildings (x2 each) - (Church) Protects all Knights, Cannons, and Trade Fleets in this city from the effects of Civil War. (Bath House) Protects all 4 regions bordering the city from the effects of the Plague. (Aqueduct) Protects all regions in a principality from the effects of the Plague.
(Church) If you've got all of your important fleets, knights, and cannons in one city, this can help very much, especially if the knight is someone like Karl the Strong. And the VP adds a fair bit to the value.
(Bath House) This may look like a light building in comparison to the Aqueduct, since it only protects neighboring regions, and if you have the latter, you don't need the Bath House. But think that, for 4 resources, you get a VP. This is the cheapest VP in the game. Even settlements cost more (7: 3 for the road + 4 for the settlement itself). It is easily worth it, even if the power is obsolete.
(Aqueduct) Obviously, this is a very valuable card. Plop this in there, and you have a VP, plus protection from Plague for the rest of the game (while your opponent is struggling to keep up with resources). Even for 6 resources it is worth it.

Knights (x1 each) - (Smithy) Each knight in your principality gets 1 additional Strength Point. (Knights) Often no text. The black number, in denominations of 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7, give the player with the most strength points the knight token. The red numbers, in denominations of 1, 2, 3, and 5, give the player with the most tournament points 1 resource of choice when the tournament is rolled.
There is one event, Conflict, that the knight token-holder vyes for when building up an army. It allows the knight-token holder to look through the opponent's hand and place 2 cards at the bottom of a single deck (at which point, the player can spend 2 resources to search for either of those cards). To be precise, this event utterly cripples the non-knight token holder for at least a few turns, and the effects can resound for the rest of the game. If a player neglects knights entirely, the knight token-holder will probably also have the most tournament points as well, in which case, he'll often get some nice bonus resources at times when he most needs them (which is always). If you have a lot of smaller knights, building a smithy might be in order to solidify the hold of the knight token. I often find myself nabbing Siegfried Lackland in the initial hand, because his cost of 1 ore doesn't interfere with my expansionistic goals (which require everything except ore and gold), and I can just spend the starting ore that I have. It gives me the knight token and tournament points right off the bat, and can give me a fine boost earlier than my opponent.


Hand-Size Increase Buildings (x2 each) - (Abbey) You can hold an extra card in your hand. (Library) You can hold an extra card in your hand. (Also, 1 VP)
Obviously, this pair increases your options of play, as they allow you to hold 4-5 cards in hand. My greatest beef is with the abbey, since it requires 1 clay and 1 wood, which are very valuable early-game. Mid-game is often when I save for either of these, and I am rarely disappointed in the given advantage


Colossus (x1) - No text, but give 2 VP's
This will 90% of the time give you the game if you can get it out (most games, we don't). Often, a VP card with an adequate power is valued at 5 resources. This gives you 2 for the price of 9 resources. Albeit, these are some of the most valuable in the game, but if you can get this later than mid-game, hold onto it and save!

EDIT: Part II: Politics and Intrigue here: http://boardgamegeek.com/article/2187520#2187520