Carcassonne - Catapult | BoardGameGeek

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Variants:: Re: The way to make this fun

Bucketeyo — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:50:13 +0000

I kind of like some of these ideas. I recently bought the catapult expansion (for the tiles). I have no interest in using the actual catapult, but I would like to find a good use for the tiles, and these ideas seem pretty solid.

My concern, however, is that I might be adding too many tiles that remove meeples from the board thus adding a much greater luck-of-the-draw element. We usually play "mega-carc" and therefore already have 18 tower tiles, 6 princess tiles, 4 siege tiles, and the dragon. I wonder if the 12 fair tiles will create an overwhelming "TAKE THAT!" element to the game?

Has anyone else implemented the fair tiles into a game of mega-carc (using several, if not all the expansions)? How did it work?

One use for the fair tiles that I thought about trying out is this...

When you draw a fair tile, you may place a follower as normal OR you may place an opponent's follower from their supply on the fair (they are visiting the fair). The person who played the tile immediately gains X victory points (they receive money from the meeple visiting the fair) where X = the number of tiles surrounding the fair (maximum would be 8) while the opponent's meeple is stuck visiting the fair until (a) the fair is completely surrounded by 8 other tiles or (b) they pay X victory points at the beginning of their turn where X = the number of empty spaces surrounding the tile (the maximum would be 7).

Using this variation you are able to play a fair tile to tie up an opponent's followers, but you aren't able to use them to remove meeples from features as the Tower and Princess already have that role covered.

Thoughts?

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: Fancy getting rid of your Carcassonne collection? Buy Carcassonne:Catapult!

Xeenu — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:50:10 +0000

by Xeenu

Hm Croatia is in a not so good position shipping wise. But shipping costs differ widely.

Weltbild.de takes 22 Euros plus money for weight plus a handling fee, Milan even has 40 Euros shipping. I did not know that croatia was near New Zealand. With these prices it better be. But to the rescue comes amazon with 16 Euro flat. Granted on one Carcassonne thats steep.
A pity You cant just go into a department store or supermarket and pick it up there. Carcassonne ist about the most common game there is - except a certain american real estate game of course..

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: Fancy getting rid of your Carcassonne collection? Buy Carcassonne:Catapult!

baba44713 — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:17:53 +0000

by baba44713

Incredibly enough, no. Shipping from US is cheaper then shipping from UK or Germany. Go figure.

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: Fancy getting rid of your Carcassonne collection? Buy Carcassonne:Catapult!

Xeenu — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:31:17 +0000

by Xeenu

I dont know but isnt HiG cheaper to obtain? Shipping Germany - US - Croatia must be more expensive than Germany - Croatia. The game has no language in it whatsoever. Not that German is sooo difficult. :):devil:

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: Fancy getting rid of your Carcassonne collection? Buy Carcassonne:Catapult!

Xeenu — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:14:13 +0000

by Xeenu

I am sorry to hear that. I am not the rich guy in any way too. Not a lot of jobs nowadays in Germany. I got my first Carcassonne from chocolate box tops plus 5 Euros which was quite a good deal. The big box runs at 36 Euros with a coupon but it has all expansions except the tower and the mentioned catapult so thats quite a good deal too.

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: Fancy getting rid of your Carcassonne collection? Buy Carcassonne:Catapult!

baba44713 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:07:57 +0000

by baba44713

In Croatia you can usually freely double the price for each game, any game, especially since only precious few are localized so you must order them from abroad. And we are slightly behind the EU standard, so what seems inexpensive to someone from Germany just may not be as cheap to someone from Croatia, especially when you add shipping+customs.

Also, I have mostly RGG Carcs, not H&G.

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: Fancy getting rid of your Carcassonne collection? Buy Carcassonne:Catapult!

Xeenu — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:59:35 +0000

by Xeenu

baba44713 wrote:
Xeenu wrote:

You get free replacements for missing bits from HiG when You register the game. You only pay postage.

*points to his flag*

Well they want 1 Euro flat for sending out missing Meeples or tiles. I dont know if that holds true for sending it abroad.

I dont want to be a smartass but Carcassonne is an inexpensive game thats widely available. Even if something is missing or somebody spills his beer on Your farmers there are games where the damage would be much worse. Just leave out the hard-to-come-by expansions like Katharer.

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: Fancy getting rid of your Carcassonne collection? Buy Carcassonne:Catapult!

baba44713 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:24:43 +0000

by baba44713

Xeenu wrote:

You get free replacements for missing bits from HiG when You register the game. You only pay postage.

*points to his flag*

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: Fancy getting rid of your Carcassonne collection? Buy Carcassonne:Catapult!

Xeenu — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:47:09 +0000

by Xeenu

Well I disagree with the original poster on several aspects.

a) Carcassonne has NOT a tiny box. You should look at my big box. I it IS big, I assure You.

b) You will not lose anything only due to the catapult. It is just an expansion the make the game more children friendly. I dont think there will be anything missing, provided the people playing are at least a little bit careful like they should be anyway.

c) You get free replacements for missing bits from HiG when You register the game. You only pay postage. If Your big meeple might have been abducted, You do not need to pay a kings ransom, just apply for a replacement.

d) The Carcassonne completist must have this game. Well should have, else Your collection is not complete.

e) It is the only game with this mechanics I am aware of so thumbs up for originality to the designers. Though I agree that the design of the new tokens is not too medieval.

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: Fancy getting rid of your Carcassonne collection? Buy Carcassonne:Catapult!

Blott — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:04:43 +0000

by Blott

baba44713 wrote:
I never said that you are required to launch a meeple or a builder.

But catapult tomfoolery on a crowded table very often results in something landing on the floor, unless your group is VERY disciplined.

Also, rules not requiring you to launch meeples with the Catapult and not having one idiot around gleefully launching meeples with the Catapult are two different things.

Conduct an experiment:

Step 1: get some random friends in your apartment.
Step 2: setup a game of Carcassonne on the table
Step 3: place catapult on the table

I can abso-bloody-guarantee you that a meeple will be in the air in the matter of minutes.

So your one and only criticism of the expansion is because of things that are done outside of the actual rules given in the expansion (Random friends launching meeples, and other catapult tomfoolery.)

I'm not trying to argue, it's just the fact that you don't seem to have a legitimate criticism of the expansion itself. You clearly state in your review that you don't take issue with the things that most users complain about in this expansion (adding dexterity to a non-dexterity game, or adding silliness to a strategy game.) You base your entire negative review on the complaint that pieces get lost, and from the sounds of it this is occuring because you are gaming with people who just want to goof around with the new component rather than play the game.

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: Fancy getting rid of your Carcassonne collection? Buy Carcassonne:Catapult!

zuviel — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:02:17 +0000

by zuviel

Blott wrote:
It's not a crossbow for pete's sake.

That's the next expansion, if my sources are correct. ;)

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: Fancy getting rid of your Carcassonne collection? Buy Carcassonne:Catapult!

baba44713 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:02:24 +0000

by baba44713

I never said that you are required to launch a meeple or a builder.

But catapult tomfoolery on a crowded table very often results in something landing on the floor, unless your group is VERY disciplined.

Also, rules not requiring you to launch meeples with the Catapult and not having one idiot around gleefully launching meeples with the Catapult are two different things.

Conduct an experiment:

Step 1: get some random friends in your apartment.
Step 2: setup a game of Carcassonne on the table
Step 3: place catapult on the table

I can abso-bloody-guarantee you that a meeple will be in the air in the matter of minutes.

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: Fancy getting rid of your Carcassonne collection? Buy Carcassonne:Catapult!

wwscrispin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:02:10 +0000

by wwscrispin

OCD (Obsessive Carcassonne Disorder). :D

The only C expansion I do not own. It was the one that broke me free of OCD.

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: Fancy getting rid of your Carcassonne collection? Buy Carcassonne:Catapult!

Blott — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:27:12 +0000

by Blott

Your criticism of this expansion seems completely unfounded.

I think it's bad because the designers think it's fun to throw components willy nilly - components of game I payed dear money for and took years to collect...just because, you know, it's fun to throw stuff around.

You are not "throwing" components at all, you are launching them on a catapult. And you are only launching the ones that came with this game, which you didn't pay for at all and take years to collect, because they were given to you in the box that you said you received as a gift.

I don't know about you, but I like, well, NOT losing stuff from my games. If my boardgame lacks a component, even a not-so-important one, it bugs me. If it lacks an important one, it bugs me even more. So what to say about a Carcassonne expansion for which you can freely expect you'll be missing, I dunno, one builder, two meeples and a few tiles after the game? Sure, you'll be having some light, wacky fun flinging meeples all over the place, and at the same time your dog will have some light, wacky fun of his own eating meeples of the floor. Also, after the game you may all have a nice round of light, wacky fun counting out all the components, realizing you are missing a bunch, searching for them for half an hour after which everyone but you will give up and ask to do something a little bit more to do with fun and less to do with combing your carpet for the thirteenth time trying to find a small wooden fairy.

How in heavens name are you losing pieces with this expansion. It's not a crossbow for pete's sake. The little tiles come raining down from the sky after being launched, the worst they will do is bump a meeple or slide a tile slightly. You are never asked to launch a meeple, a builder, or anything other than the 4 little tiles you are given at the beginning of the game.

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: Fancy getting rid of your Carcassonne collection? Buy Carcassonne:Catapult!

Jasta — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:30:09 +0000

by Jasta

This review actually raises the score of this expansion in my estimation.

I mean if this expansion hadn't been terrible, this review wouldn't have been so funny :)

Review: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Fancy getting rid of your Carcassonne collection? Buy Carcassonne:Catapult!

baba44713 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:10:47 +0000

by baba44713

(disclaimer: I've freely stolen all the pictures featured here from various unsuspecting folks who uploaded them in the Gallery. You may opt to thumb them to ease their pain)

Let me get something out of the way first: I love Carcassonne. It's a great game, so often wrongly categorized either as a dull multiplayer solitaire Euro or a luck-driven filler. This is one of the first boardgames I bought and is one of the very few games that offers MANY ways of adaptability for any game group (once you shell out the cash for expansions, of course). Play vanilla Carc with non-gamers. Add Carcassonne - Inns & Cathedrals for some subtle yet pretty sharp aggresiveness. Mix with Carcassonne - Traders & Builders to make the game more strategic. Put Carcassonne - The Princess & the Dragon if you prefer a nastier, more random game. And the best of all: the game with all those expansions fit in one tiny box!

(yes, I'm looking at you, Dominion )

The problem with this game is that expansions just keep on coming. And coming. And coming. And one of my friends took into his care that for every birthday he gives me a new Carcassonne expansion (no matter how subtly or not-so-subtly I tell him that thank you, I have enough of them, don't need more, stop already WILL YA!?). Of course, he is the main reason that I am now a happy owner of Carcassonne - Catapult. Sigh.

For the members of "Down with unnecessary long-winded introductions" club, the review starts here.

]]>

Carcassonne - Catapult is YET ANOTHER expansion for Carcassonne. Because the poor cow has't been milked enough yet. But wait! This one is something completely different, and it's not a man with three buttocks. It's an expansion which introduces sillyness and dexterity elements in our favorite tile-laying game! Yay!

Now let me just get out front that I have nothing against dexterity games. I enjoy playing Jenga, would be in for Pick Up Sticks and am of opinion that a session of Loopin' Louie or even Hungry Hungry Hippos can be surprisingly entertaining.

Also, I'm not even against introducing dexterity in games where it isn't really expected. I enjoy having that silly Z-deck card in Agricola where you have to balance a standing fence piece throughout the game. In fact, I wouldn't mind if "serious" boardgames started including more stuff of this kind, as long as it's a) not too intrusive and b) optional. Come on, silly unexpected stuff is fun!

However, Carcassonne - Catapult isn't.

But let's pretend this review follows the "suggested" review structure so I'll first do the

Components

First of all, you get more tiles. Some of them with not-so-common configurations. They all have a bright yellow fair on them:

]]>

Perhaps some folks will enjoy the new tiles. Personally, I have enough tiles, thank you. In fact, lately I've been known to throw out a random amount of tiles before playing to a) screw with those irritating folks who memorized the tile distribution for every game and expansions and more importantly b) shorten the gameplay time. I said I love Carcassonne, but it's still a type of a game which shouldn't last more then an hour and a half, two tops. I've even started banning the Builder because - even though it's a great strategic piece - it almost doubles the gameplay time.

So do I need more tiles? Nope.

But wait! You also get these.. these... well, see for yourself:

]]>]]>

Yes, you get meeple-caricature tokens. They are the designer's way to tell you "Lighten up, get that broom out of your ass and embrace the WACKYNESS and SILLYNESS of this expansion!" To which I respond: nope, you are not getting away with it, no siree. I am an adult men who plays games involving tiny wooden people, dragons and piggies. By choosing this hobby I already compromised my image enough. So no, you cannot get away with selling me a game containing components that look right out of Candy Land! And don't even start with "well, this is a kid's game too, you know..".. no it's not! This isn't an expansion for The Kids of Carcassonne, it's an expansion for regular Carcassonne! You can take those meeple caricatures and you can put them, well, wherever it makes you feel most uncomfortable to have them!

Oh, and you also get this:

]]>

but without the disembodied hand holding it. Yes, it's a "catapult" and yes, this is the only Carc component you can get a free replacement for simply by ordering some Chinese takeout.

You also get this:

]]>

so you can pretend that you are commiting suicide for being forced to play with this expansion.

Let's go to

Rules

You fling some stuff, you get some points. There are four types of flinging, and everyone gets to fling. Whoopie. On second thought, let's not go to rules. 'Tis just too silly.

Let's better go to

Why I hate this game

I'll tell you why I hate it. I'll be brief for a change: because I dislike losing stuff that I payed not quite an insignificant sum of money for. Yes, I don't think Catapult is bad because it introduces dexterity, nor because it's yet another expansion noone really needs but folks with terminal case of OCD (Obsessive Carcassonne Disorder). I think it's bad because the designers think it's fun to throw components willy nilly - components of game I payed dear money for and took years to collect...just because, you know, it's fun to throw stuff around. Well sure.. when you are three!

I don't know about you, but I like, well, NOT losing stuff from my games. If my boardgame lacks a component, even a not-so-important one, it bugs me. If it lacks an important one, it bugs me even more. So what to say about a Carcassonne expansion for which you can freely expect you'll be missing, I dunno, one builder, two meeples and a few tiles after the game? Sure, you'll be having some light, wacky fun flinging meeples all over the place, and at the same time your dog will have some light, wacky fun of his own eating meeples of the floor. Also, after the game you may all have a nice round of light, wacky fun counting out all the components, realizing you are missing a bunch, searching for them for half an hour after which everyone but you will give up and ask to do something a little bit more to do with fun and less to do with combing your carpet for the thirteenth time trying to find a small wooden fairy.

If H&G or RGG or whoever else decided to cash in on this crap included a voucher for free replacement components in this silly thing, then perhaps I would enjoy the entire thing more. But they don't, so I don't. Perhaps I *could* enjoy the Catapult if I wasn't playing with *my* copy of the damn game, but even though some of my friends *do* own Carcassonne, I'd like to stay friends with them and bringing Catapult to their own gamenight is a surer way to ruin the friendship than a session of Diplomacy.

All in all, Carcassonne - Catapult sucks. And don't give me that "Oh, lighten up and be wacky", because next time I'll be wacky and bring out water baloons while playing your Race for the Galaxy or sprinkle your Warhammer 40,000 figurines with catnip so your next battle involves the attack of giant mutant felines from outer space.

Now excuse me, I have to take my dog for a walk for him to.. do his stuff. Perhaps I'll get lucky and my green builder will return home.

Damn Catapult.

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: General:: Re: So, when is this coming on BSW?

Capoeirista — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:29:55 +0000

by Capoeirista

They're keeping it secret for the time being - I think they're planning to announce it along with the ability to use BSW on the Wii!

Thread: Carcassonne - Catapult:: General:: So, when is this coming on BSW?

baba44713 — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:22:53 +0000

by baba44713

Seriously, it's been a while now. Why is it not implemented yet?

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: General:: Re: Lack of tile-explanation

ColtsFan76 — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:17:17 +0000

by ColtsFan76

Well, I would say in Figure 2, both upper tiles are "clearly" 2 roads coming into a fair with two separate farms. I can't see anyone making a valid claim that the farms are one and continue around the roads.

Likewise, the upper right on Fig. 1 must follow logically. There is no green and it is obviously trying to depict 2 cities and 2 fields.

So that still brings us back to the tile in question - the lower left of Fig. 2. Following the art they established in the above 3 tiles, the sand is part of the art for a fair. But the sand wraps around the Cloister so it tramples the logic established so far.

It seems to me the intent is still to divide the tile in half so you don't get a wrap around farm. The clearly extended the sand so as to make sure, even with an offest cut on the tile, that no one would mistake the tiniest green connecting the two fields.

But since no other tile has sand, the only tiles that could be placed to the left or right of this tile are field edges. And as soon as a field is placed either to the left or right, both the top and bottom halves are connected again. So why not just draw it that way to begin with?

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: General:: Re: Lack of tile-explanation

WRSZS — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 09:14:47 +0000

by WRSZS

ColtsFan76 wrote:
Seems the are deliberately trying to make the "sand" break teh field but if that is the case, why not just use a road?

So there are few ways of interpretation sand... and consequences of choice
fig. 1. ]]>fig. 2. ]]>
a) [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]sand is same as grass (field) [/BGCOLOR]
fig. 1. upper right - fair not divides farm. Two cities, one farm.
fig. 2. bottom left - one farm.
and!
fig. 2. both upper tiles - one farm (sic!) and two separate segments (dead ends) of roads.

b) [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]sand is same as road [/BGCOLOR]
fig. 1. upper right - fair divides farm. Two cities connected with sand road, two farms.
fig. 2. bottom left - two farms. rfrf tile
and!
fig. 2. both upper tiles - two farms and one road.

c) [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]sand is new kind of terrain[/BGCOLOR]
fig. 1. upper right - fair divides farm. Two cities, two farms.
fig. 2. bottom left - two farms, but I don't know how this sand sided tile fits to other terrains? Maybe only abbey? Maybe to roads?
and!
fig. 2. both upper tiles - two farms and two separate segments of roads.

The rest of tiles are obvious.
Well, twelve new tiles and 1/3 of them with doubts...

IMHO treating sand as a kind of field is more intuitive and consequent. But...

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: General:: Re: This WILL be a classic

jp_creationschaos — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:14:56 +0000

by jp_creationschaos

:laugh: You're NUTS!!!!!!!!

:arrrh:

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: General:: Re: Does your catapult work well?

jp_creationschaos — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:11:21 +0000

by jp_creationschaos

It shouln'd have been invented. PERIOD.

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: So let's give Catapult a go... A review!

martinmcu — Fri, 22 May 2009 20:38:54 +0000

by martinmcu

PinkyMan wrote:
Summary - if you have ever watched Monty Python's Holy Grail, I can't see how you wouldn't get any fun out of this! Don't take it seriously - it clearly isn't meant to be. It adds a greater element of luck and a lot of fun to a game and while I can see how it will not be to everyone's taste - PLEASE give it a go if you ever get the chance. I was pleasantly surprised. And I suspect my unwilling friend will play again.

I think you have truly captured the essence of the Catapult. Is it meant to bring new levels of strategy and depth to the game? Of course not. Is it meant to bring some more laughs to the table for an occasional silly game? Absolutely. And if you approach it with the right attitude, I've found it to be very enjoyable.

All said, it's nice to finally see some positive reviews on the Catapult.

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: So let's give Catapult a go... A review!

royaldoy — Mon, 18 May 2009 22:26:47 +0000

by royaldoy

thepackrat wrote:
So, what about about Ticket to Ride: The Catapult Expansion?

B>

Sounds good. I know I am in the minority, but I think TTR stinks as is. :p

Maybe if I could launch catapults at the trains, it would liven it up.

Alas, trains never did pique my interest.

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: So let's give Catapult a go... A review!

Curtis Anderson — Sun, 17 May 2009 16:12:31 +0000

by Curtis Anderson

This has to be the funniest thing I've read about Carcassonne on the 'Geek.

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: So let's give Catapult a go... A review!

thepackrat — Sun, 17 May 2009 15:50:58 +0000

by thepackrat

So, what about about Ticket to Ride: The Catapult Expansion?

B>

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: So let's give Catapult a go... A review!

royaldoy — Sun, 17 May 2009 13:53:28 +0000

by royaldoy

Most of the reviews on this expansion have been from people who were looking for an expansion that was less frivelous and a something that had a little more meaning for "Carcassonne".

It doesn't take a genius to see what this expansion is designed for. Fun!

Everybody needs to get over the fact that it's designed for fun. If that's still a problem, don't play with the Catapult.

I enjoy it for what it is. A catapult that launches chits in every place except where you aim. Fun!!!

Reply: Carcassonne - Catapult:: Reviews:: Re: So let's give Catapult a go... A review!

nathanfullerton — Sun, 17 May 2009 11:28:56 +0000

by nathanfullerton

I have read various reviews about this expansion and i think the bulk of them seemed to be negative. It was refreshing to read about your simple enjoyment of the game. After all these are still board games not ever one of them needs to be high art. I look forward to trying it some time.

Review: Carcassonne - Catapult:: So let's give Catapult a go... A review!

PinkyMan — Sun, 17 May 2009 10:53:06 +0000

by PinkyMan

I've owned Carcassonne for nearly a year now, I love the simplicity and subtlety of the strategy. Every few months I buy a new expansion for it and I originally planned to buy them in chronological order. However I was intruiged by Catapult. Initial thoughts were negative. Reviews were generally, at best, average. But I still decided to buy it... :-)

Opening the box you discover the fabled catapult and naturally you punch out the tokens and give it a try. Hmmm. Straight up! And it rolls under the chair where my dog attempts to swallow it. A few more 'flings' and I start to realise how the physics apply. (Top tip - If you want it to go forward, rest the token ON the small piece of wood that supposed to stop it slipping.) During the game you don't want to pull the catapult too far back as you get NO control whatsoever!

12 new tiles, each featuring a Fair, cause the 'catapult round' to be activated. The range of tiles contain no freakish city shapes but the artwork, in my opinion, doesn't seem to 'fit' - it seems a little cartoony but it does fit the mood of the expansion.

The tokens (comedy meeple cartoons) seem to glare out. They don't have any of the art style of Carcassonne. Annoying, but they are easily identifiable and are very easy to find (thankfully).

I played this as a two player game with a fellow Carcassonne fan. He was not impressed in the slightest when I produced the Catapult expansion. And his negativity continued through the game to almost comedy levels. We didn't use any of the other expansions as is traditional when we buy any boardgame expansion.

Our first fair turned up on turn 3. Now we had a choice... what shall we do? We went for the target hurling and I bagged my first 5 points by being the nearest. Mutters of 'it's harder to get a 5 point road' and 'how are you meant to use this crappy thing?'
As the game progressed and more tiles were laid the risks become greater. Will it give me an advantage if I can knock out a meeple - but then mine are closely grouped and make an easier target... Hmmm. The fact that EVERYONE plays the same token that round makes a huge difference to what you should do. We found that on several turns, we would rather not fling a token. Defaulting to the 'Target hurling' option.
The 'seduction' token is a particularly cruel piece denying a player who has been building up a massive farm or has nearly completed an eight tile city. The 'knockout' caused disaster for me when I wiped out two of my own meeples! The 'Catch' token provided the greatest laughs but nearly sent all the carefully placed tiles over the floor!
One of the game highlights was during a target round and my token rolled off the table. Clearly my opponent was never going to let me take it again and gave his catapult the tiniest flick enabling the token to merely FALL OFF. He claimed his first 5 points and weathered my complaints that he should have at least TRIED to fire it!

As the game progressed, family members began to see what was going on, taking equal delight from our cries of dismay and the 'oohs!' of near misses. My children thought it was 'cool' our wives looked bemused. My opponent claimed he would never play it again (after all, he lost 10 of the 12 catapult rounds!)

Despite my catapult prowess - I was thumped in the game, losing by over 50 points! But it was the most enjoyable loss I have ever suffered.

Summary - if you have ever watched Monty Python's Holy Grail, I can't see how you wouldn't get any fun out of this! Don't take it seriously - it clearly isn't meant to be. It adds a greater element of luck and a lot of fun to a game and while I can see how it will not be to everyone's taste - PLEASE give it a go if you ever get the chance. I was pleasantly surprised. And I suspect my unwilling friend will play again.