Game: Siedler von Catan, Die - Das Buch zum Spielen

Thread: Re: Mayfair 4th edition and Das Buch

drzodiacus — 2008-08-01T15:01:20+00:00

I don't see why it wouldn't be...

Das buch contains only some hex Tiles (which are of the same size as before) and every other bit is quite independent from the base game itself...

Of course, most of the "expansions" need either Seefarers or Cities & knights and some even both.

I hope this helps.

Cheers

Thread: Re: Die Siedler - Bag List

martinmcu — 2008-07-25T22:07:29+00:00

The list in the back is fantastic - shows pictures of everything so you can easily identify what goes in which bag. Reading a little bit of German helps, but is certainly not necessary. I'm very impressed with how well thought out the packaging is, with the labeled bags and everything fitting back inside the box once it's been punched out of the cardboard.

Thread: Re: Mayfair 4th edition and Das Buch

Theticoboy — 2008-03-28T06:01:36+00:00

I am curious about this too. If any knows if SoC 4th edition and Das Buch is compatible then please advise. Thanks!

Thread: Mayfair 4th edition and Das Buch

dragonstout — 2008-03-05T19:01:21+00:00

Is Mayfair's 4th edition compatible with Das Buch? I'm concerned that it might not be because of the big changes (in the 4th edition Seafarers as well) to the frame and amount of ocean tiles included. If anyone knows, please let me know! Thanks!

Andy

Thread: Reviewing Das Buch zum Spielen

BrightonFoxDave — 2007-10-14T22:30:39+00:00

Firstly, as a European, I have to say that I had an awfully hard time searching for this. I eventually bought it from the Mayfair Games website for the measly sum of $25! Cheap enough for it to be a definite buy. Transatlantic shipping was costlier than the "book" itself, so I had to buy other things to justify it! Haha.

Despite the title, this is a box set rather than a book - comprising an outer case which accepts a full colour A4 hardback book (printed in German as you probably know) and a box for the hundreds of additional card components that come with the game. The case is similar in size to the basic Catan boxes and is meant to sit on a shelf so you can see the spine of the book and the component box label.

Prerequisites
The majority of the scenarios presented in Das Buch require you to have the Seafarers expansion as well as the basic version of Settlers. If you don't have a copy of Seafarers available, the value of this book is much reduced. You don't need to have the 5-6 player supplements, but they are catered for too.

The Hardback Book
Weighing in at 190-odd pages, the book is full colour, very well illustrated and beautifully laid out. The book is split in to a number of sections including The History of the Game (scattered throughout), Hints and Tips (6 pages), Boardgame Scenarios and Variants (over 110 pages) and the Card Game (27 pages). With the American Mayfair version of the book, you also get an English language translation booklet, although this only covers the scenarios and variants themselves. Whilst the scenarios and variants is the majority of the book, there is quite a lot of print that you would struggle with if you can't read German. The English translation - and a range of translations into other languages are available right here on the Geek)

Despite the German language, you can tell what some of the illustrations are all about, no matter what the language - the early ideas for the card art for instance. The Babelfish website would allow you to translate any German text you wanted and even though there's a lot of artowrk in the book, this would still be quite time consuming.

The Components Box
You will find 10 cardstock punched sheets and 12 large ziplock bags in the box, plus a smaller bag of plastic components - mainly stands for some of the card items. There is also a transparent self adhesive label sheet (again in German) so you can label each of the 12 bags with a bag number and the contents. The bag numbers are important, as the scenarios in the book has a section which tells you what components you need and what bag they are to be found in. Crucially, there is a section at the back of the book (11 pages) which shows you which card components to put in which bag. This is pictorial, completely language independant and I would have been lost without this on more than one occasion!

In all honesty, 12 large bags is a bit overkill as some of them end up with next to nothing inside, so they tend to get in the way when you want to put everything in the box! I was able to label the smaller plastic components bag as bag 12 and this freed me a bag to use to hold the counters from the Fishermen of Catan add-on, for instance.

The Scenarios and Variants
There are 15 scenarios in the book and a large number of optional rules and add-ins on top of this, so you get a lot of game for your money. There are versions of the same scenario designed for 3,4,5 and 6 players, with different size board layouts, as per Seafarers. The scenarios are wide ranging. Some include some quite radical changes to the rules (i.e. the Railroad variant) whist others present additional means to gain victory points (such as the specialists variant where the highest producer of each resource gets a victory point or the colonies variant, where you ship different tokens back to your home island to swap them for resources or victory points).

Addons that could be put into any Settlers game include 3 jungle tiles and 3 volcano tiles. The jungle tiles give you counters that you can trade in for resource cards and the volcano tiles, whilst having no resources themselves, boost the production of surrounding tiles, but come with the risk of a volcanic eruption, which downgrades any affected settlements. Another good idea is the ability to build a castle to protect you from the robber. There's lots more ideas like this. There's forts, indians, balloons, dikes and floods, desert raiders and all manner of additional aspects to try if your Catan games are getting a bit samey.

Conclusion
Considering the price of this ($25) compared to Cities and Knights ($38), you will have considerably more bang for your buck with Das Buch. I can see my gaming group taking to some of these variants and spurning others, but there really is something for every Catan fan here. If you enjoy settlers games, then this is a must buy.

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Aetesaki — 2007-09-20T18:49:21+00:00

Components for Transport Settlers

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Aetesaki — 2007-09-20T18:40:40+00:00

Specialist victorypoints

Thread: Re: Full translation

peterk — 2007-09-14T20:36:15+00:00

I translated the scenarios and variants into Dutch (available here at the geek). Thought about translating the rest too, but decided it was too much of an effort for too little added value. I read German fairly fluently, so when I want to read the other parts, I read them from the book. The scenarios and variants are the relevant part of the book, and as some of the people in my gaming group are not that fluent in German I decided to translate that part. After that, it only makes sense to make it publicly available here.

Peter

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Aetesaki — 2007-09-14T18:30:28+00:00

Scan of the back of the book

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Aetesaki — 2007-09-14T18:28:11+00:00

Scan of the front of the book

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Aetesaki — 2007-09-14T18:22:06+00:00

Scan of the back of the box

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Aetesaki — 2007-09-14T18:19:44+00:00

Scan of the front of the box

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Aetesaki — 2007-09-14T18:16:28+00:00

Scan of the back of the cover (Partial - best fit scan)

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Aetesaki — 2007-09-14T18:12:09+00:00

Scan of the front of the cover (Partial - best fit scan)

Thread: Re: Worth the money?

aboveriver — 2007-04-29T23:54:22+00:00

Smokes, yes!!

This is the best game(s) I ever bought. I couldn't believe what was packed in this box. I felt like a pre-teen kid on Christmas sorting through all my counters and working on copying the translations. That was at least a couple of years ago and I'm not finished. This has got to be my only rated 10.0 game.

Thread: Re: Full translation

aboveriver — 2007-04-29T23:34:55+00:00

I've been very curious about the other material for years myself. Thanks to Robartin for the link.

Thread: Re: Die Siedler - Bag List

Marfried — 2007-03-29T20:46:40+00:00

Actually there is a list in the back of the book...

Thread: Re: The Desert Riders - a broken scenario?

Marfried — 2007-03-29T20:45:09+00:00

Jeff Paull wrote:

For placing the Raiders out of the desert, it does not matter from which desert hex you take them. If the rolled number touches _any_ desert hex or a hex with a raider on it... you simply take a raider from the desert (any desert hex) and have him take over a new space.

--JP

Exactly, you treat ALL the desert tiles as if they were just ONE tile.

Thread: Re: Which scenario is good to play with C&k?

Marfried — 2007-03-29T20:24:30+00:00

It should work fairly well with "El Dorado", or maybe even with "Die Wüstenreiter", if you change the rules a bit.

Thread: Re: The Desert Riders - a broken scenario?

Jeff Paull — 2007-03-10T19:27:33+00:00

Luk,

For placing the Raiders out of the desert, it does not matter from which desert hex you take them. If the rolled number touches _any_ desert hex or a hex with a raider on it... you simply take a raider from the desert (any desert hex) and have him take over a new space.

The raiders actually come pretty quickly, once they start invading.

--JP

Thread: The Desert Riders - a broken scenario?

Luk Van Baelen — 2007-03-09T10:20:13+00:00

We played the scenario ysterday evening and had a huge disagreement, not on the rules as they are clear, but whether they are fair?

1. The Volcano
As ALL settlements and cities on the adjacent Wheat field get grain when the Volcano number is rolled with the dice, it really boils down to as if the Wheat field really has 2 numbers on it: the one from the Wheat field [eg 8] as well as the one from the Volcano [eg 8]. When 8 or 9 are rolled, the player gets grain.
Only the settlements and cities on the 2 positions where they are on both the Wheat field and the Volcano field are threatened by the eruption.

That's where the unfairness kicks in: on the 4 corners of the Wheat field not touching the Volcano field, the settlements and cities get grain every time 8 or 9 are rolled.
They only get the positive outcome and don't have the downside of the eruptions.
Only the 2 corners adjacent to the Volcano field carry the risk of the eruptions.

You could argument that is an intended part of the strategy: get as fast as possible to the Wheat field adjacent to a Volcano and build on 1 of the 4 "safe" corners, as that gives you a BIG benefit. Too big a benefit we found.

We concluded to suggest to limit the advantage of getting additional grain when the Volcano number [9] is rolled to the settlements and cities located on the 2 corners where the wheat filed touches the Volcano. [ALWAYS getting grain when the the Volcano number is rolled and 1 in 6 risk of the eruption].

Needless to say that the one who build a settlement on one of the 4 "safe" corners of the Wheat adjacent to the Volcano, did win the game.

2. The Desert Riders
Every time a new settlement is build or one converted into a city, the player needs to put 2 Desert Riders on one of the 3 deserts.
In a 4 player game, the left Desert is only adjacent to a "2" wheat field. This has lead to the majority of the Desert Riders being piled up on that desert [I know the scenario suggests to spread them evenly, but as the payer has a choice they use that choice].
All of the evening the number "2" was never ever rolled, so the Desert Riders never conquered anything.

Looking forward to your comments!

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Luk Van Baelen — 2007-02-11T19:52:11+00:00

The Great race nearing its end

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Luk Van Baelen — 2007-02-11T19:48:39+00:00

Ready to start with The Great race for 5

Thread: Re: Full translation

joni — 2007-01-31T23:31:29+00:00

cold_fuzion wrote:
The scenarios & variants are translated and I have that. I wanted to rest of the book, it looks like it has some interesting bits on the history of the game and I wanted to read the section on the card game.
Now I see, maybe I'll have to check that out...

cold_fuzion wrote:

Yes I'm a Catan geek, I can admit that.

Thread: Re: Full translation

cold_fuzion — 2007-01-29T01:20:44+00:00

The scenarios & variants are translated and I have that. I wanted to rest of the book, it looks like it has some interesting bits on the history of the game and I wanted to read the section on the card game.

Yes I'm a Catan geek, I can admit that.

Thread: Re: Full translation

joni — 2007-01-29T00:26:48+00:00

cold_fuzion wrote:
Has anyone ever tried to translate the entire book?
(...)
I was just curious if anyone had tried, or if I'm the only lunatic willing to scan every picture in the book to make a good English translation.

I actually got my book WITH an english translation! So I assume the publishers got someone to do it. The translation is only text so one have to look in the Book to see the tables and pictures...

I think most of the variations are published as files in here...

Thread: Re: Full translation

robartin — 2007-01-28T06:30:10+00:00

This is the most complete translation you'll find as of now. All of the scenarios and variants are included.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/fileinfo.php?fileid=3485

Thread: Full translation

cold_fuzion — 2007-01-28T05:28:56+00:00

Has anyone ever tried to translate the entire book? I started to, but it was taking me roughly twenty to thirty minutes a paragraph. So the though of doing the rest of the book made my head hurt and I stopped.

I don't read German, so I had to feed it all into Babelfish and then try and make sense of it. If someone actually read German it might not be so bad.

I was just curious if anyone had tried, or if I'm the only lunatic willing to scan every picture in the book to make a good English translation.

Thread: Multi-Aspect Review

schuwa — 2006-11-13T20:27:16+00:00

Objective: Depends on the scenario you play.

Materials: Despite the title, the set is actually more than a book. It comes with a nice hard cover over-sized book of over 100 pages in high-gloss full color. In this book are dozens of scenarios (including various historical periods, railroad variant, horror, fantasy, Bermuda triangles, pirates...you name it), as well as tips & tricks, a history of the game, and some "game reports". The down-side of the book is this: It is in German! Fortunately, there is an English translation, but it is NOT word-for-word, and it only translates the scenarios with their specific tips and tricks. Believe me when I say this is 90% of the book, so you are not missing out if you are interested in trying dozens on new variants. If, however, you want to read the history of the game, gaming sessions, and overall strategy tips for the, you will be missing out unless you can speak/read German.
It also comes with a materials box. This is where the set is worth every penny. You've read lots of homemade scenarios on-line, I'm sure. Well, Mayfair took the creme de la creme and actually printed out the extra pieces, tiles, and cards on the same quality material the standard set comes with. It comes with OVER 12 ZIPLOCK BAGS with of pieces. It took me 1 full hour to punch them out of perforated cards. They are well-made and match perfectly (size and all) with the original set.

Mechanics: Since there is dozens of scenarios, I can't get into the details of each or this would be a novel. I will say I've tried half-dozen scenarios and all but one were outstanding (the railroad variant was awful). For example, there is a Bermuda Triangle variant (req. Seafarers) where you roll number for sea hexes as well as land hexes, and your shipping lanes get sunk/disappear, but you can build very expensive bridges for more stability. There's an El Dorado scenario (req Seafarers) where you are on 4 islands surrounding El Dorado full of gold and VPs; but beware the players can hire the "privateer" to come and sink and pillage your ships. There an Atoll scenario (req Seafarers) (an Atoll is an island within an island...looks like a target sign) that the pirate roams the atoll water. One thing you will notice is Das Buch really needs the Seafarers expansion for many of the scenarios, which may put some people off. The rules for many of these scenarios are obviously play tested over and over again. We've played each one a few times and they play different and balanced each time. The rules are easy to understand in the English translation book, but the English translation does not have pictures. Thus, one problem (and it is a very small one) is the English booklet will say "See Das Buch for pieces and set-up". Although it's fairly easy to rely on the pictures, there are a few times where you have to look at a chart (includes pictures) and "figure out" a bit of German-English translation to determine which pieces are needed. As I've stated, this is such a small problem because everything has pictures, but again, it'd be great if EVERYTHING is in the English booklet.

Does it work with few (i.e.2-3) players versus many (i.e. 4-6) players? Well, yeah! Many of you know Settlers and its expansions only work with 3-4 players. But there are 5-6 player add-ons for each expansion. Das Buch delivers with a punch. Not only does Das Buch have each scenario for 3-4 players, but also has that same scenario for 5-6 players.

Will my non-gaming spouse/friends like it? In short, “Oh, yes.” But in order to understand the answer to this question, I think it’s important to understand what separates the gamers from the non-gamers. Ask any gamer what his favorite game is, and watch him rant and rave about how amazing the rules/models/cards/mechanics are. But then ask him how long the instruction book is. This forum has a lot of Warmachine players. It’s a fantastic game with a fairly easy rule set, as mini games go. But “Prime” is 100+ pages. Sure some of it is fluff, but you can’t sit down, read it in 15 minutes, and then play it in the same evening. Settlers of Catan’s rules are 20+ pages, but can be easily explained in 5 minutes. The same cannot be said for, say, Warmachine, D&D, and Magic. We all know Settlers is the best gateway game out there. It attracts non-gamers simply because the rules are simple to understand, there are few exceptions to the rules, and anyone (even beginners) can win. What makes Das Buch fantastic is Mayfair Games doesn’t try to re-invent the wheel. They make simple, but significant tweaks to the rules and pieces such that the scenarios themselves feel like completely new games without having to check the rules every 2 minutes. As before, the railroad variant is too far away from the original rule set, that it isn’t even close to the same Settlers; hence, that scenario fails miserably.

Good for kids?: Settlers fits in right about 10+ and those players still provide a challenge for other players. Using my 8 year old niece again as an example, she plays the game and loves it, but isn’t really good at it. Das Buch fairs about the same, but you are changing the rules about a game, keeping in mind younger kids do better with a constant rule-set with few exceptions. Expansions are, by definition, exceptions. So, again, I would advocate this game for 10-12+ years old.

Should I buy it? If you like Settlers and have Seafarers (which in and of itself is $80 total) and play on a regular basis…or if you *want* to play on a more regular basis, but want new, fresh scenarios, this is for you. Especially given that the other expansions are $40 and this is $50, you are getting much, much more for only $10 more.

Thread: Die Siedler - Bag List

100075945 — 2006-11-06T11:28:37+00:00

Here are the Bag Designations for Accessories as I saw them on this site. I wasn't able to find a good list elsewhere so I made my own

Die Siedler Von Catan
Bag Designations for Accessories

Bag#1 5 Building Cost Cards 4 Ship Cards
9 Ship Tokens (1 Pirate) 3 Name Cards

Bag#2 7 River Tiles 5 Pioneers
5 Forts 1 Native

Bag#3 3 Jungle Hex 3 Volcano Hex
Colony Tokens (86)
-20 Gold -20 Gems
-20 Ore -26 Discovery (jungle)

Bag#4 10 Number Blue Chips 6 Specialist Cards
30 Red Tokens

Bag#5 18 Dike Walls (3x6) 1 Large Victory Point
Treasure Chest Tokens (28)
-8 Gold -8 Robbers
-8 Card -6 Victory Point

Bag#6 16 Victory Point Chips
15 Round Number Chips (1 dice1/6)

Bag#7 28 Desert Raiders

Bag#8 Fastest Engineer Victory Point Card
36 Water Towers (6x6) 6 Locomotives

Bag#9 Wizard Castle Card Direction Spinner
100 Storm Tokens

Bag#10 Wind Tile 2 Large Storm Tokens
6 Balloon Chips

Bag#11 12 Discovery Tokens 6 Factory Tokens
6 Castle Tokens

Bag#12 24 Figure Bases

This may not be perfect but I hope it helps.

Thread: Which scenario is good to play with C&k?

benwang — 2006-09-18T20:15:25+00:00

I love to combine c&k with seafarer. But I wonder which scenario in Das Buch suitable for C&K?

Thread: Re: Volcano Question: Moving the Soldier to stop it?

bobm174 — 2006-08-13T16:46:36+00:00

Yes that is the one I am talking about where the numbers shift.

Bob

Thread: Re: Volcano Question: Moving the Soldier to stop it?

peterk — 2006-08-12T20:35:02+00:00

The one I thought Bob meant was 'Vulkanien' on page 124, as that is the variant that has the rotating numbers for the tiles around the vulcano.

Thread: Re: Volcano Question: Moving the Soldier to stop it?

peterk — 2006-08-12T18:57:40+00:00

Probably incorrectly translated. The german rules say:

Mit der Ritterkarte kann der Vulkan nicht zum Ausbruch gebracht werden.

which means:

Eruption of the vulcano cannot be forced by the soldier.

Probably, because normally you can move the robber by a soldier, this is added to avoid misunderstandings.

Peter

Thread: Volcano Question: Moving the Soldier to stop it?

bobm174 — 2006-08-12T18:14:27+00:00

One of the scenarios that talks about the Volcano shifting all the numbers around the volcano sounds interesting. I want to try it
but don't understand where it says after the 7 is rolled you
can use the soldier to stop the Volcano:

I don't understand this because the Volcano erupting is presented as an additional option other then moving the robber. If that is the case,
why one your turn would you use a soldier to stop the eruption when you could just take another action?

Or does the rule mean another play even though it's not there turn can use the soldier card?

Appreciate any help.

Bob

Thread: Re: So, how is it?

The_T — 2006-06-24T01:52:50+00:00

Well what I meant to say is, I was going to buy Seafarers and the card game, and was now considering buying Seafarers and Das Buch.

Maybe I should put it off for another day, though. And the fact the history and other things aren't translated is a little disheartening.

Thread: Re: So, how is it?

Salt-Man Z — 2006-06-16T14:54:21+00:00

The translation for Das Buch contains only the text for the scenarios and variants. There's a lot of info in the book that's not translated, and yes, you still need the book for the pictures, especially setting up the maps.

The pieces work just fine with the Mayfair parts, though the cardstock used for the hexes is just noticeably thinner.

You will need to pick up Seafarers for almost all of the scenarios listed, and one of them "The Colonies" requires hexes from a 5/6-player expansion, though it's not specified.

So. Pick up Seafarers first. Almost all of the scenarios in Das Buch are essentially Seafarers scenarios, so if you don't like what Seafarers adds to the game, you likely won't need to bother with Das Buch. If, however, you enjoy Seafarers, you will not be disappointed by Das Buch.

Thread: So, how is it?

The_T — 2006-06-16T02:37:43+00:00

I only own the original game, and was thinking about getting Seafarers and the card game. Then I heard about this, and my curiosity was piqued. So, how are the variants? How is the translation booklet [I'm not sure who is actually producing this booklet... I'll be ordering off Cardhaus if it matters], and does it cover everything including the stuff on the card game and the history and the like? Does the booklet contain the illustrations in the main book, or do you have to crossreference between them? And do all the components included look right/fit right with the Mayfair pieces?

Thread: Re: Colonist Question

Salt-Man Z — 2006-05-22T16:58:07+00:00

It's a good scenario. Hope you enjoy it!

Thread: Re: Colonist Question

bobm174 — 2006-05-17T14:09:28+00:00

Thanks for your replies and I'm glad we are on the same page.

Can't wait to try this scenario. I read that if I just have
Settlers and Seafarers I may not have enough cardboard hexes,
hopefully I will be able to improvise.

Bob

Thread: Re: Colonist Question

Salt-Man Z — 2006-05-17T03:54:14+00:00

Well, it all depends on which edition of Seafarers you're playing. The varying rule sets can never quite agree on how ship movement is handled.

I think my confusion of your question comes from the fact that boats are handled completely differently in "The Colonies" than in any Seafarers game. In "The Colonies", boats are built individually and sail individually; in Seafarers, boats are built in strings (like roads) but the endmost boat in an open string of boats can be moved. It's where that boat can be moved to that's subject to debate.

Thread: Re: Colonist Question

bobm174 — 2006-05-17T03:42:26+00:00

Thanks,

But what I described about ship movement does apply to the
standard Seafarers scenarios right?

Bob

Thread: Re: Colonist Question

Salt-Man Z — 2006-05-17T02:38:52+00:00

No. In "The Colonies" scenario, any boat you build (or place during the setup phase) is free to sail.

Thread: Re: Colonist Question

bobm174 — 2006-05-16T23:20:14+00:00

I have always understood that in order to build a boat you just need a settlement or city on the coast. To clarify: I am talking about moving/sailing boats as opposed to building them.

I thought that in order to move a boat you must first build an initial boat which cannot set sail and only
the 2nd boat you build can then move once per turn as
part of that shipping line.

Thread: Re: Eldorado Scenario Question

Salt-Man Z — 2006-05-16T22:14:50+00:00

I see nothing in the "El Dorado" rules about the Robber, so I would assume it functions normally. Remember that only one player (at most) controls the Privateer. So if you control the Privateer, and I roll a 7, I would move the Robber, and you could move the Privateer. I would even go so far as to say that if the rolling player had control, he could move both the Robber and the Privateer, as there is nothing in the rules to lead me to believe otherwise.

The only question, then, is: does the Robber or the Privateer move first? I would argue that the Robber moves first, as his movement is mandatory, and then the Privateer -- the use of which appears optional -- is moved. So controlling the Privateer could be a nice way to keep the Robber at bay: "Oh, you want to block my hex, do you? Would you like to meet my friend the Privateer?"

(Side note: the "El Dorado" scenario was written by Andreas Seyfarth, of Puerto Rico fame. I never noticed that before!)

Thread: Re: Colonist Question

Salt-Man Z — 2006-05-16T22:02:54+00:00

I can only assume you are asking about the scenario, "The Colonies". I also assume that by "port board" you really mean "harbor" and that you've made some grave misinterpretations about the Seafarers rules.

A "port" in Seafarers is merely a settlement/city on the coast, which is of course a prerequisite for ship-building. Owning a harbor has never been a requirement.

In "The Colonies", players must place their first settlement on the coast (as a "port", if you will) and may then build boats off of their port settlements/cities.

Hope this helps.

Thread: Colonist Question

bobm174 — 2006-05-16T21:45:28+00:00

When playing this scenario, do you need a port board first before
you can set sail as per the regular rules?

Thanks,

Bob

Thread: Eldorado Scenario Question

bobm174 — 2006-05-14T20:33:32+00:00

Does the robber come into play when the 7 is rolled as well as the privateer? If so I am guessing that you can just choose which one you want to play (Either moving the robber of using the privateer)

Also, can you use your soldier card to use the privateer? I am assuming so but was not sure.

Thanks.

Bob

Thread: Re: Desert Raiders: 2 Questions

Salt-Man Z — 2006-05-02T19:57:14+00:00

puzzelgek wrote:
No, not true.
You're right. I was getting my Volcano variants mixed up.

Thread: Re: Desert Raiders: 2 Questions

Luk Van Baelen — 2006-05-02T14:31:09+00:00

We played the scenario with 5 players this week end and had a huge disagreement, not on the rules as they are clear, but whether they are fair?

As ALL settlements and cities on the adjacent Wheat field get grain when the Volcano number is rolled with the dice, it really boils down to as if the Wheat field really has 2 numbers on it: the one from the Wheat field [eg 6] as well as the one from the Volcano [eg 9]. When 6 or 9 are rolled, the player gets grain.
Only the settlements and cities on the 2 positions where they are on both the Wheat field and the Volcano field are threatened by the eruption.

That's where the unfairness kicks in: on the 4 corners of the Wheat field not touching the Volcano field, the settlements and cities get grain every time 6 or 9 are rolled.
They only get the positive outcome and don't have the downside of the eruptions.
Only the 2 corners adjacent to the Volcano field carry the risk of the eruptions.

You could argument that is an intended part of the strategy: get as fast as possible to the Wheat field adjacent to a Volcano and build on 1 of the 4 "safe" corners, as that gives you a BIG benefit. Too big a benefit we found.

We concluded to suggest to limit the advantage of also getting grain when the Volcano number [9] is rolled to the settlements and cities located on the 2 corners where wheat touches Volcano. [ALWAYS getting grain when the the Volcano number is rolled and 1 1 in 6 risk of the eruption].

Thread: Re: Help! Lost the translation!

Salt-Man Z — 2006-05-02T14:01:30+00:00

Looks like Luk's got this under control. I'll take my leave of this thread, then.

Thread: Re: Help! Lost the translation!

Luk Van Baelen — 2006-05-02T13:44:35+00:00

I have uploaded it, but as you know it takes a few days before it becomes available.

Unless you give me your email adress so I can mail it to you

Thread: Re: Help! Lost the translation!

Salt-Man Z — 2006-05-01T15:09:45+00:00

I'ma bump this thread. I should be able to get you a copy. I'll PM you later.

Thread: Help! Lost the translation!

jasonhibbs — 2006-04-30T03:48:18+00:00

somehow, i've lost the translation booklet that came with Das Buch... i can't find it here on the 'geek, nor on the web. would anyone be willing to tell me where the whole translation can be found, or perhaps photocopy and send it to me (i'd pay for the trouble, naturally)?

thanks
jasonhibbs

Thread: Re: Worth the money?

gavingva — 2006-04-16T13:39:33+00:00

If you know anyone going to Essen, there are usually a few to be had for EUR 10 so they could bring you one back.

It is a very heavy item, though, so be warned!

Gavin

Thread: Re: "colonies" second base settelment

Jeff Paull — 2006-02-09T02:17:10+00:00

Yakumo,

Remove your 'bases' when you build your first settlement on a colony.

You may then build roads which extend to further hexes and build the normal way or you may create further bases.

This applies to either colony.

--JP

Thread: "colonies" second base settelment

yakumo — 2006-02-07T14:04:50+00:00

Hi

I have read the rules but I still have one question:
After you have created one or many bases on the new island and have built your first house. Must the second house be built using the normal "road" way?

Or can you build more bases and build more houses on the same island or on the other island?

If so, then are your old bases (which was removed when built the first house) still count as discovered territories?

Thread: Re: "The Colonies" question

jlambertou — 2006-01-03T07:44:54+00:00

I've wondered the same thing, but in the two games I've played of it we decided to use the "letter" of the rules as you say. I think that is part of the intention of the game: once you get the tokens back from the Colonies, they are very valuable indeed, and that immunity from the Robber is one of the benefits (it also applies to Gold tokens). If the intent was to require immediate redemption, I believe it would say so.

Players with many tokens will have many advantages, but that is what the game is all about, collecting those tokens and transporting them back. And as the last person said, you can steal them directly from the ships with the Pirate. I've found that to be quite effective in slowing someone down (stealing their gold or ore) and in grabbing that last victory point (stealing discovery tokens). If the other players are that worried about someone collecting too much ore and gold, they will make sure to steal some of it before it gets back.

So I don't believe the ability to save tokens is a problem. However, if you wanted to shift the balance slightly, as a variation you could require players to redeem any ore or gold tokens they want to use right *before* they roll the dice on their turn, thus subjecting them one time to the risk of robber discard. [This is a variation I've seen suggested by some for Gold in basic Seafarers].

Thread: Re: "The Colonies" question

puzzelgek — 2005-12-21T20:48:06+00:00

In this scenario the robber isn't even present!!

The idea is that the pirat (or searobber or whatever its called in English) has a more important role.
You can steal ore-chips with him.

So the stealing happens during transport. After a chip has reached the mainisland it is safe for the 7 and the pirat.

Thread: Re: Desert Raiders: 2 Questions

puzzelgek — 2005-12-21T20:42:48+00:00

No, not true.

According the rules:

There is no pay off for being on a Volcano hex, however, the eruption does benefit any adjacent Wheatfield hex. Settlements on these hexes get a Grain card, Cities get two Grain cards.