Afternoon game of Settlers for five

A friend texted and asked if I'd be able to play a game with her kids while she went shopping. Sounded good to me... and since Daniel and Becky were here, we decided on a game of Settlers of Catan. Shenna is only 8, and while she plays well she preferred to be in a team with Becky - so we got to play the five-player version.

And just to make it a little different, Daniel suggested that rather than using dice we might try the 'event cards' from the Traders and Barbarians of Catan set. We'd only played one game with the event cards previously.

Josh (white) played first (we did use dice to determine who would begin!) and chose an intersection with clay and wood, despite wood being on a 12. We knew that, with the event cards, 12 would come at some point, albeit not frequently, unless of course it happened to be amongst the bottom five which do not get picked. Becky and Shenna (green) opted for a double-ore slot with some nice numbers, after discussing the fact that they might also try and get the ore harbour. Daniel (red) then opted for a wood-clay spot, which I thought slightly better than Josh's choice, and Nicole (blue) took another wood-clay spot, although clay was 12.

I was last, meaning I could place both settlements... I couldn't see any particularly good places. Clay looked as if it would be in rather short supply, but in theory I had access to all five resources and six numbers. Becky and Shenna were pleased to find that they could still take the ore harbour and planned to trade for wood.


Ore was reasonably plentiful in this game, so three of us managed cities fairly early. The event cards don't just have statistically correct numbers on them; some of them have extra bonuses - such as a free resource card for whoever has the most harbours, or the largest army - or problems, such as the 'earthquake' card which means everyone has to turn a street sideways, and then pay another wood and clay to restore it.


It wasn't long before Shenna and Becky took the longest street. With an 8 on clay (in a game lacking clay generally) and the ore harbour, they had no trouble trading for wood. This put them ahead with 7 points, while I had 6, Josh and Nicole had 5, and Daniel had 4.


The next excitement, not long afterwards, was when Daniel took the longest street card:


- although Josh then built a settlement which effectively ensured that Daniel's street would not get much longer. Unusually, we all managed to have 7 points at the same time:


Slightly to my surprise, I was able to take the longest street card shortly afterwards, giving me 10 points. Becky and Shenna had 9, Josh had 8, Nicole had 7, and Daniel had 5.


It was quite an exciting game. We continued gaining points slowly - Daniel, alas, was still far behind but the rest of us were between 9 and 11; it was still almost anybody's game. And one of the event cards (maybe more than one) required whoever was ahead to give a card of their choice to everyone who wasn't ahead. So that made it all the more even, in a sense.

t could have gone on a long time. Nicole had played several knights, and gained the largest army. So she had 9 points, Josh had 10, Becky and Shenna had 10, and I had 11. Daniel now had 6.



Nicole built another settlement. Josh built another settlement. He and I were in the lead with 11 points...

It got to Becky and Shenna's turn... they built their final city, and then produced a victory point. So they were the winners. And since Nicole also had a victory point, it meant that three of us had 11 points at the end - only Daniel was still behind.


Here's a picture of the winning team:

Six-person Settlers of Catan

Last night, we were invited over to some friends to play Settlers, taking our set with us. They're currently borrowing a set from some other mutual friends, but that's older than ours, so it doesn't have the outer grid to hold it together, and it's in German. Of course it's always good to learn a few words from a foreign language, but how useful is it, in reality, to know that - for instance - 'Ritter' means 'knight'?

So we set up the extended version for five to six players, and placed our initial settlements.


I was fifth to place, and had Shenna playing with me. She's quite capable of playing on her own, but there were seven of us in all, so there had to be one team. We (playing orange, as I always do) chose an intersection with two wood hexes and one sheep for our first turn, since it was close to a wood harbour. Since one of the wood hexes was an 8, it seemed like a good starting point. On our second placement we had two possible intersections with our three missing resources (clay, ore and wheat) and after some discussion, chose the one nearer the coast.

We'd forgotten how crowded the board can become with six players. We'd also forgotten, for a moment, that everyone's allowed to build (if they have the exact cards) after each player has finished his or her turn. Thankfully Josh reminded us, although I expect we'd have thought about it sooner or later.

Slightly to my surprise, we were able to build a city fairly early in the game, while it took a little longer to get settlements on the two harbours we were aiming for. But after a few rounds, we were nicely in the lead: six points, while pretty much everyone else had four.

Unfortunately, that meant we were the obvious target for the robber, and in particular that nice 8-wood hex which, by then, had a city and a settlement on it.


While others bought cards, we tried to expand when we could, and never picked up so many cards that we risked losing them on a seven roll. There was no way we were going to get a long street, since our only access to clay was an 11, so we generally had to trade for it. Clay and wheat were generally in rather short supply in the game, unsurprisingly given where the numbers fell, and I knew our initial placements were not ideal. We could have bought more cards, and perhaps played a few knights - we did play one during the game - but with six players, that still leaves, potentially, five rounds without the best resource if the player next to me put the robber back - as happened when we did play the knight!

The problem with doing well early in the game is that everyone else continued to target the same person. So even when we were overtaken by both Josh (playing white) and Nicole (playing blue), the robber mostly ended up on the 8-wood hex. There were some rounds when we didn't pick up a single card.

Eventually it was a battle between Josh and Nicole. At one stage Nicole had both the largest army and the longest street, and had reached 10 points, while Josh had 8. However her street had reached its limit, whereas his had much more potential, and he eventually took the card from her, giving him 10 points. The following round, he was able - after some judicious trading - to build both a city and another settlement, making him the clear winner.

Settlers game with Josh and Shenna

It's only about ten days since we introduced some more friends to Settlers of Catan. Josh particularly liked it, and their family has borrowed the set from our other friends, who are currently away. They've apparently been playing a fair bit, and have also found a version online, but were eager to play with us again. So yesterday, Richard asked if any - or all - of them would like to come over for a game. The only two who decided to come were Josh (who is 13) and Shenna (who is 8). I was both surprised and very impressed at how competent Shenna has become at the game, already!

It was a strange board with wood, sheep and grain tiles all in clumps. Richard (red as usual) went first, and opted for the best ore hex, bordered with a couple of wheat. I (playing orange, also as usual) was second. While I usually do choose ore for my first settlement, I could see that clay was going to be in short supply in this game. So I played by the clay 8 hex, bordering two reasonable wood hexes, since I realised I could probably get the wood harbour.

Josh and Shenna then made some further good choices, and it was back to me. There was no way I could get grain, sheep and ore. I couldn't even see a good way to get two of them. So I tried a slightly different strategy: I took a place bordered by three sheep hexes with good numbers (6, 9 and 10) which was close to the sheep trading harbour.

It was an enjoyable game. Josh and Shenna played well, and were both very good humoured. They haven't yet developed strategies as we have, but traded well, and could immediately see where they had building spots. Josh took the longest road card fairly early, but then didn't develop his advantage, meaning that Richard was able to take and retain it.


I started by thinking that we'd be fairly gentle with them, but they didn't play like beginners at all. So although we weren't nasty, I did take a building spot that someone else would have liked!


Gradually, experience began to show. Richard and I both overtook our young opponents, and in the last rounds of the game they both had 7 points, while we both had 11. I couldn't do any more building - having constructed my cities almost entirely out of traded sheep! - and was buying cards. Richard had one more possible settlement to build, and was also buying cards. Either of us could have been lucky - but it happened to be me, who turned up a victory point. If I hadn't done so, I would have been able to claim the 'largest army' the following turn, assuming Richard didn't build a settlement or buy a Victory Point card before me.

Afternoon game of Settlers

Our young friends Jacob and Marie have played Settlers with me a few times, but really wanted a game with Richard. So we arranged for them, and their mother, to come over for a game this afternoon. In last night's game, Josh had commented that he'd like to play more often so we suggested he come over too. Tim said he would happily be in a team with Josh again, but would take more of a back seat this time, advising rather than playing, or 'dreaming' (as we call it in mah-jong).

So it was a six-player game. We'd set it out about twenty minutes before we actually started, as Tim was explaining more strategy to Josh, so we'd had a chance to look at the layout. I could see several possible starting points, and was undecided which to opt for. My usual strategy has been to take a clay and a wood if I can, but I could see that ore was likely to be in short supply. So when - to my surprise - I rolled the highest and started, I placed my initial settlement on the spot near the top left of the photo, with 9 on ore, 6 on wood, 10 on wheat.


By the time I had to place my final settlement, most of the good spots were gone. There was no way for me to get good supplies of both clay and sheep; so, when in doubt, I do without sheep. I could see they would be fairly well available anyway, so I hoped to trade for them. I placed my second settlement on the spot by the sea where there were two clay hexes - an 8 and a 4. If possible I like to get a good range of numbers, although I was missing a 5.

Building went fairly slowly at first - several settlements, few cities. Jacob (green) quickly got the longest street, a strategy Richard used to use, but which means more resources are needed for other buildings. At one point I hoped I might take the longest street card, but Jacob blocked that. There was quite a long stretch where both Sheila (brown) and I had built all our settlements, so could do nothing more until we had cities. I forgot, for a couple of rounds, that I had the wood harbour; once I realised, I traded wood for what I needed - and accepted it from others in return for other resources, once it was no longer needed in the game. It looked as if Jacob might win; had had ten points, and two face-down development cards, of which one might well have been a victory point. So nobody would trade with him.

One of my strategies is to be fairly quiet about my own position, particularly when it doesn't look strong early in the game. Since Jacob was in the lead for most of the game, the robber kept being placed on one of his two ore hexes, one of which was my only source or ore. I was behind at first, so not, apparently, in any danger of winning. But I bought cards, after trading for sheep, and built up the 'largest army' with three knights, and I also had a victory point.

Then five was rolled. For once, the robber was not on an ore hex. Jacob had seven ore cards in his hands, as he told us. Nobody would trade with him, since he was - apparently - in the lead. If he had a victory point, and built just one more city, he would have won.

Six was rolled, so I collected five wood tiles. I traded one of them for wheat, on someone else's turn. I already had one wheat in my hand. I hoped 9 might be rolled, giving me a couple of ore cards, but it wasn't. I could exchange my four wood for two ore, but that wasn't enough for a city. Jacob wasn't going to trade two ore for two wood. I did think about exchanging for ore and sheep, so I could buy another card. But what I've learned over the months is that one has to keep thinking about all the possibilities, making use of every opportunity, re-juggling available resources in one's mind constantly rather than being focused on just one strategy.

I had a knight. Usually, I only play knight cards when the robber is on a hex where I have a settlement. But of course it can be played at any point in one's turn. I rolled the dice, and didn't collect anything. So I played the knight, moving it to Jacob's main ore hex, and - knowing he had almost all ore - took one of his cards. It was ore, meaning I could build my final city and produce my victory point to win. Again.

I'm trying to figure out what it is that makes this game so enjoyable, and I think part of it is that it uses all four 'intelligences' defined by David Keirsey, related to different temperaments: diplomacy, strategy, logistics and tactics. I'm good at diplomacy; I don't tend to steal other people's building spots unless I have to, and while I naturally place the robber on a hex that blocks whoever's in the lead (and more than one person, if possible) I don't do it deliberately to be mean. Nor do I necessarily block anyone who's blocked me; I don't take it personally. There are many possible strategies, and it's important to consider them, but not to be tied into any single one. Best use of resources is an exercise in logistics, and tactics is about taking advantage of the present moment, adapting and adjusting on the spur of the moment. That's my weakest suit, but playing this game is - I think - helping me to strengthen it.

We have another game tonight - all adults - which will make the sixth game in five days. Even I'm beginning to feel a little 'Settlered out' so we've agreed that we won't be playing any Catan tomorrow.

Settlers of Catan in teams of two

Last night we had some friends over for a meal. Dave had played Settlers before, once. They like board games; Josh, who is thirteen, really likes strategy games, so we decided to play altogether. Eight people is too many for one game, of course, so we decided to play in four teams of two. Sonja with me, the two girls (aged 11 and 8) with Richard and Dave respectively, Josh with Tim.


We decided to play to ten points rather than twelve, since we were having to explain strategies and rules as we went along. Sonja and I (orange) played second, which is probably my least favourite place. Towards the end we had nine points - seven on the board, and the largest army - so all we needed was a victory point, or another city. But our best source of ore was blocked - repeatedly - by the robber. I didn't have much wheat in the game - my only access was via the 11 hex, or by trading - so it was slow going.

Then Richard and Nicole picked up a Victory Point card, although of course nobody else knew they had it, and realised they had another building spot. So they got their last settlement (covered by a hand in the photo) and won.