I've played Catan (the board game) for some time now (in the U.S.) and I've had a decent amount of experience with the XBLA version since it was released 5 days ago.  For those who are interested, I figured it may make sense to post some things I've learned based on this experience.  Please feel free to post additinal advice/tips in this thread.

1)  Catan (XBLA), just like the original is a great game and the completely new  interface is incredibly streamlined.  The rules are relatively straightforward and intuitive for such a strategic game so it's easy for beginners to jump right in and start having fun in the first game.  That being said, a few minutes spent running through the tutorial and playing a game against the A.I. will go a long way to learning the shortcuts and increasing your familiarity with what's out there.  Please don't make other people answer the most very basic questions during their game that the tutorial could have answered for you.

2) Choosing your spots: The three main things you want to consider is (1) the general productivity or odds of the tiles, (2) the resources, and (3) geography with potential expansion.

(1) As a general rule, the "better" the numbers you build on in the beginning, the more resources you can expect to produce and therefore you should be able to build faster.  You'll notice that each number has a number of dots beneath it -- the more dots, the better chance you have that the roll.  Generally, each dot represents a 3% that the specific number will be rolled on any given roll, therefore, an "5", which has four dots, has roughly a 12% chance of being rolled , while a "3" has two dots and therefore is half as likely to be rolled as a "5" on any given roll (6%). (As an aside, it's important to remember that even if four "3's" are rolled in a row, then next roll still has the same 6% chance of being another "3").   So, when choosing a spot, the more dots the better!  

(2) All resoruces are important, but each resource varies in its importance based on its availability in each particular game.  Generally, if a specific resource has less total dots relative to the other resources then it will likely be worth more for trading purposes.  Often it is worth not choosing the numbers with the best general productivity if you can secure a monopoly on a rare resource.

(3) Think about whether a particular placement leaves room for productive expansion.  It may make sense to take a seemingly inferior space if it allows you room to grow to other quality spots/ports.  Also keep in mind that other players may block your routes or plans.  Try to think ahead by putting yourself in their position and what spot would be best for them (not for you). 

3) Ports are very useful, get them if you can once the premium spots are secured.  Keep in mnd that ports can be very useful if your void in one or more resources.  Of course, a wheat port is useless if you have no wheat.... Port strategies can be a great secondary strategy if you can't secure a balanced starting position otherwise, but remember that port strategies often leave you at a disadvantage because you're still trading for many of your cards at a deficit.

4) Trading: Don't do it to be nice, do it because it helps you more than the person you're trading with.  Keep in mind that if you're trading with someone who you think has no chance to win then you may be happy to give them 3 cards for one instead of trading four for one with the bank.  On the other hand, if someone is either ahead of you or directly competing with you for a space, longest road, largest army, etc., it may only make sense to trade 1 card for 2 or 3 or not at all, depending on the situation.  It's all about situational awareness and it comes down to judging who is a threat and who can help you if you help them.  IMO, this is one of the most important skills in Catan.  You want to get to 10 points -- true, but, more importantly, you want to do it first.  If a trade gives you one point and someone three points behind you two points, then it may be worth it even though it helps that player more than you since you'll still be two points ahead AND closer to ten points.

When asking for an item, press right bumper first to see how many of each resource is currently in the game.  If there is none, please don't ask for it.  If you have 3 or 4 of a reasource consider trading for one more of that to trade those in for the resource you actually want.  Also, if there is only one or two of a resource available in the game, you can look at the recently  rolled numbers (or the log) to see which player likely has that resource (then maybe use a soldier if trading is not an option).

5) The Robber.  As a general rule, the robber should go on the person that you think is "winning".  Often this does NOT mean the person with the most VP's shown when you hold right trigger.  You need to consider other aspects of what goes into which player is in the best position to get to 10 points FIRST.  This can be very complicated and subjective and different people may have different opinions, but here are some factors to consider:

• How many points does everyone currently have showing?
• Is someone close to getting (and securing) largest army or longest road?
• Does a player have unplayed development cards?
• Does a player have room to expand (if a player has 5 settlements and no stone, it may be very difficult to get more points even though the player is "winning" at that point)?
• Which player is playing better up to that point?
  
• Does one player have more resource cards in his hands?

Even though you should generally target the person you think is winning, it may be better to stray from this course in certain situations:  You need a specific resource and you have a good chance of getting it from someone else (think 1 in 3 or better), you're racing that person for a specific spot or you want to block a specific resource so no one can get access to it (e.g., you want to have a monopoly on all the available wheat).

6) General online etiquette:

• If you finished your turn, please press the "x" key instead of letting the 60 second timer run down so the game will move faster.  On a related note, if it's your turn, don't experiment with the emoticons -- save that for when other people are thinking on their turns.
• Of course you may use your mike when trading or just talking but don't belittle other people for choosing not to use theirs.
• Don't quit.
• Don't unfairly favor another player because you know him or her.
• If you think you're losing, don't throw the game so it ends quicker (you'd be surprised how often someone who thinks they're losing comes back to win).
  

7) Have fun!

There's plenty more strategy to this game but I'm hoping this post can get newcomers and experienced player alike thinking about different ways to approach the game.  Please feel free to reply with your favorite strategies or tips or PM me if you have any questions.

Don't build roads just to build roads. 

If you aren't going for the Longest Road, don't waste your resources.  I see so many people that just randomly build roads with no strategy in mind.  For example. building into dead ends that don't block or allow you to build settlements.

You don't have to build just to do something during your turn.  There is nothing wrong with rolling the dice and then ending your turn.

I LOVE this game.  I can't wait for Carcasonne! 

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Coup de Main

Great tips!
Also -- something to add:
You start out with the resources from the settlement you place second.  This should be kept in mind, that if you need a road to race for a spot, placing your second settlement on a place with clay and wood is huge.  Always keep this in mind.   If you go fourth, plan both settlements before placing.  This will allow you to start with the better cards.

Invaluable stuff to a completely new player to Catan, such as myself.

Keep it coming and thanks a lot guys!

I refuse to play any online games until I can beat the CPU on the hardest difficulty, but when I do, I hope to take enough from a thread like this that I dont annoy people with things that should be common knowledge.

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Bears, Bulls and Cubs through thick and thin.

Very nice tips! however, above, you said use RB to see stats, but I'm pretty sure it's LB. (and I don't think it's my control config)

Holding LB shows the Standing and Stats: the Resources in Play, Developement Deck, Player Standings, and Pieces Remaining.  Knowing the Resources in Play is VERY important when trading; if there is none of a resource available there is no point in asking for it in the trade screen. the Player Standings box shows the VPs, cards gained, soldiers played, and road length of each player. ALL these stats are CRUCIAL durring play- if you aren't checking LB constantly, you're doing something wrong.

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Can YOU Escape from the Dead?

Ok, question:

How much emphasis should I put on buying development cards?

Right now, I am purchasing about 2 cards on average a game. Should I be looking to buy more or not bothering with them unless I just have alot of extra resources?

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Bears, Bulls and Cubs through thick and thin.

 Xaegoth wrote:

Ok, question:

How much emphasis should I put on buying development cards?

Right now, I am purchasing about 2 cards on average a game. Should I be looking to buy more or not bothering with them unless I just have alot of extra resources?

There are a few strategies to use if you plan on going the development card route.  First, if you plan on buying a few development cards, you might as well plan on going for largest army since it only takes 3 soldier cards to get the initial 2 VPs and your odds of getting a soldier card are pretty good.  Second, I have won a game with only my two starting settlements by turning them into cities and strictly buying development cards; so think about how you want to proceed as early road expansion is a must if you cannot support the habit.  Lastly, I have won games from late development cards with either a Victory point, Year of Plenty or Monopoly changing the tide of the game.  Sometimes taking a chance on a development card when you lack the resources to do anything else can help, but once again it is a big risk that should only be used when all other options are unavailable.

So once again, invest early if you can support the habit and hopefully you get the largest army out of your efforts.  Otherwise keep your resources for other investments and only purchase development cards as a last resort since you never know what you will get.  Also relaize that rolling a 7 is the most common number so if your resources are getting too large and you need to dump cards, investing in a development card can never hurt if you lack the resources to do anything else of worth.

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Sincerely,
Hiero Glyph

If ignorance is bliss then you must be the happiest person alive.

 Xaegoth wrote:

Ok, question:

How much emphasis should I put on buying development cards?

Right now, I am purchasing about 2 cards on average a game. Should I be looking to buy more or not bothering with them unless I just have alot of extra resources?

The answer is, of course:  it depends -- on the board and your strategy.

If the board has a lot of stone, sheep and wheat in the game and you are built up on them, your strategy shoudl be building a whole lot of developement cards while building up the cities.  Dev cards are only good -- 2 points for largest army, Victory points, road building... etc...

If you have no stone (or it is scarce -- bad numbers on board, or noone is trading it to you), you need to save up for cities -- you cant waste a precious stone on a probable soldier that probably doesnt help you enough.  You can try and get lucky with a monopoly, but it probably isnt your best bet. 

It all depends on the board, what you have in your hand, what resources you can produce, if you are near a port, what your opponents are doing, what they have, and where you are in the game.

My suggestion:  try to play different strategies and see how they play out.  You can then develop your own ideas.  Try one game where you only build up on stone wheat and sheep.  See how that goes.  In this starting position, you want to build cities fairly quickly and crank out the development cards.  Put the soldier on the opponents and use their clay/wood to expand.   If you can get 2 cities early, largest army, a VP or two and manage to build a few settlements with road building/YoP/monolopies you can win.
Try another game where you are only on wood/sheep/clay/wheat.  See how that developes -- expand early, plan for longest road... and get to a port -- you will have lots of card getting 5 settlements out early and since you have no stone (try building to it) you need cities to win and need stone.  This can work well too.

The amazing part of this game is that the game is always different -- the board, the players, the strategies, the rolls. One strategy will not work in every case.  I hope that helps, or at least gives you something to think about.

Thanks a lot guys.

Guess, I need to learn to recognize and then adapt to the different game situations.

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Bears, Bulls and Cubs through thick and thin.

I find it helpful to go with a port strategy if one resource is on very good numbers across the board. Particularly when you can get two good numbers next to eachother. It works best as 4th player as you can secure the resource and then the 2:1 port that you need without someone interfering. Generally this route starts a little slow compared to a rainbow approach, but really makes out mid to late game when you've been able to build mutliple cities on your chosen resource. It matters very little to you at that point if other players will trade with you.

Whatever you do, spend some time looking at the board before you place your initial settlements. I find that its plays a major major part in your game.

1st player- Usually get the best resource generation.
2nd player- Place for diverse production (you may not get a good second chance)
3rd player- Alot of ways they are the spoiler. take the spots that would *** 1 and 2 the most.
4th player- Unified strategy you get both settlements at once so you can set the ports.Remember you get resources from your second city, so if you're doing a settlement on brick/wood do it last.

Thanks for the advice.  I've played the game before but it was in German (and I don't speak German) so it was quite frustrating at times when I had to get cards translated etc.  I'll probably buy the game today so I'll see you online at some point!

 Xaegoth wrote:

Thanks a lot guys.

Guess, I need to learn to recognize and then adapt to the different game situations.

This is important (and what keeps the game interesting, imo)
The board is different each game.
carefully analyzing the board, esp for initial placement, is very important.
And yeh Biker, the order is important too.

btw, if you hold LB+RB you can see more then dots... it shows a number on every junction- that's the exact chance (out of a possible 36) of that spot yeilding a resource.

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Can YOU Escape from the Dead?

When you say hit "X" when you are done with your turn (while playing online) to speed things up, is this better than selecting the "End Turn" icon? I thought "X" gets you to your next turn without letting you trade....

No, you can trade but the trade screen will not automatically come up.  And when another player proposes a trade, they will automatically get an X from you.  

It's really good if you have to visit the little boy's room or get some food.

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Coup de Main

 depot wrote:

When you say hit "X" when you are done with your turn (while playing online) to speed things up, is this better than selecting the "End Turn" icon? I thought "X" gets you to your next turn without letting you trade....

I meant during your turn, press "x" (or hit end turn) when you're done (i.e., don't let the timer run down for no reason).  Pressing "x" when it's not your turn will "skip to your turn", which means it will not automatically bring up the trading screen until your turn arrives.

Random tip: don't build longest road by connecting two separate smaller roads in a situation where those extra roads have no settlement building potential unless you are going to win that turn or you are trying to keepsomeone else from getting longest road and he is close to winning that turn.  Otherwise, you just make yourself an early target and you wasted valuable resources that could have done something to increase your current production potential (while longest road is inherrently useless if you don't win the game with it).

 Xaegoth wrote:

Ok, question:

How much emphasis should I put on buying development cards?

Right now, I am purchasing about 2 cards on average a game. Should I be looking to buy more or not bothering with them unless I just have alot of extra resources?

Unless I'm a likely candidate for Largest Army, I buy cards as a sort-of last resort.  Specifically, I think it's better to prioritize expansion in the form of settlements or cities; on the other hand, if I'm winning and I feel I'll be the target if someone rolls a 7 or plays a soldier, I like to get rid of some resources by buying a card...especially if I have more than 7 resources (or am likely to have more than 7 on the next roll), but still don't have enough to build a city.

Usually you'll get a Soldier, which is somewhat useful; often you'll get a Victory Point, which is pretty lame; occasionally, you'll get the holy grail of development cards, the Monopoly.  So it can be worth it.  And the Largest Army is nothing to sneeze at.

Some general tips. I'm not a champion player, but I'm pretty good at the game. This is in addition to all the good advice above.

1. There's two general strategies: Build roads and settlements, or build cities and buy development cards. To win, you need to do both to some extent, but be clear in your focus on what you want to do.
2. Save your resources. It is simply pointless to build a road and only a road early in thr game. You're spending resources without gaining anything back. If you're building a road, you need to be doing one of these two things: follow it up with a settlement or secure a specific area for your settlement. Let's say you and another player are both racing to build on a spot 2 spaces away (very common  early in the game). Say you build two roads, but the other player ends up getting there first. Now you've spent 4 resources in total and have nothing to show for it. You would've been better off building a smaller, less desirable settlement. Early in the game, I don't build any roads until I can secure a settlement at the end of them. Don't simply build roads in the first 3 or 4 rounds to spoil someone else's plans. It doesn't help you get ahead.
3. Port trade often to keep your resources under 7. The 7 is the most commonly rolled number. In a 4-player game, the 7 will be rolled between every other of your turns. It could mean you might need to dump 4 or more of your cards. You're better off, if you have a LOT extra of one resource, to port trade it before you can do anything with it simply to keep at 7 cards or less. You're better off losing 4 cards and gaining a rare resource than simply losing all 4 cards and having nothing to show for it.
4. Don't buy a lot of resource cards early in the game. I know the temptation is there, but don't buy more than one resource card very early in the game. You should be using your resources to build settlements and cities. Once you've got a third settlement, or your first city, feel free to buy resource cards every once and again. But you don't win the game by buying a lot of resource cards early. They usually just kill your momentum.
5. Don't build on a port early in the game unless it's the perfect port. Don't build on a port in your first two settlements just because it's a port. Ports aren't that great. You can win without them, but if you focus on ports, you're not going to do well. If you happen to be in a game where you're sitting on wheat at 5, 6, and 8, and you can get the port for wheat, then go for it right off the bat. But in most situations, leave the port as one of your first destinations to build to, not where you start.

And, perhaps my most important tip:

6. The most important moment in the game is when you choose where to build your second settlement. Honestly, there's always at least 3-5 decent places to start off in. But your second settlement is much more important than your first. I almost never focus on what resources I get with my second settlement. It is much more important to use the second settlement as part of your overall plan on expansion.

In Catan, the person who controls the map wins the game. Simple as that. Great players will have positions where they can expand their own domains without threats but easily interrupt other players who might suddenly start to do very well.

If your second settlement is in an area with no expansion (settlements around you), be sure that it's a fantastic spot and build a city on it as quickly as possible. But if it's not as great of a spot, don't dig your own hole. You should be able to build out from each of your settlements. If you can't, it means you can't expand from that spot and it's not worth fighting over (in most cases).


The last thing to remember is that Catan is based on strategy (where to build), politics (trading), and luck (the chance of die rolls). You need to be good in at least two of those areas to do well.

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Catan, finally!

Chiwotweiler: Good tips -- especially your insight into not spending resources unless you're sure they'll immediately count for something. 

I would add to your thoughts -- especially in a thread about Catan strategy -- that there generally are no uniform rules for what a "correct" strategy is.  You can win games without building a single city and you can win others games without building a road (I've done both).  Other points:

• Often I'll choose a second spot just because it let's me start with a road and therefore beat someone off to a third spot, which is crucial to my success.
• Ports are very useful.  Even just a 3:1 port makes your trading 33% more efficient AND it allows you to trade with the bank more often than other players which has the additional advantage of not helping other players if you can help it.  Having a port also make it less likely that you will be forced to drop on a 7. 
  • I do agree though that building on a port is not necessarily a great move withone of your first two settlements, but it often can be -- especially if the numbers are 8:4 (9 dots) --> compare this to building on a 6,3,11 (also 9 dots) without a port.
• You often don't need to have expansion capabilities as long as one of your spots leaves you room to successfully expand.

 Chiwotweiler wrote:

Some general tips. I'm not a champion player, but I'm pretty good at the game. This is in addition to all the good advice above.
2. Save your resources. It is simply pointless to build a road and only a road early in thr game. You're spending resources without gaining anything back. If you're building a road, you need to be doing one of these two things: follow it up with a settlement or secure a specific area for your settlement. Let's say you and another player are both racing to build on a spot 2 spaces away (very common  early in the game). Say you build two roads, but the other player ends up getting there first. Now you've spent 4 resources in total and have nothing to show for it. You would've been better off building a smaller, less desirable settlement. Early in the game, I don't build any roads until I can secure a settlement at the end of them. Don't simply build roads in the first 3 or 4 rounds to spoil someone else's plans. It doesn't help you get ahead.
3. Port trade often to keep your resources under 7. The 7 is the most commonly rolled number. In a 4-player game, the 7 will be rolled between every other of your turns. It could mean you might need to dump 4 or more of your cards. You're better off, if you have a LOT extra of one resource, to port trade it before you can do anything with it simply to keep at 7 cards or less. You're better off losing 4 cards and gaining a rare resource than simply losing all 4 cards and having nothing to show for it.

I disagree with #2 strongly, for the reason you list in #3 - 7 is rolled too frequently to store up resources all the time.  Storing up for a road and a settlement is just too risky. Early in the game if you are sure that no one can spoil your planned settlement spot you should build the road immediately. Someone could rob you and take your only brick. Late in the game there's very little reason to save because you could potentially gain 6 resources in two rolls, then have most of it robbed away. The exception is if you don't have easy access to stone (or wheat), then not the best idea to buy dev cards when you want a city.

 DreadPirateWes wrote:

 Chiwotweiler wrote:

Some general tips. I'm not a champion player, but I'm pretty good at the game. This is in addition to all the good advice above.
2. Save your resources. It is simply pointless to build a road and only a road early in thr game. You're spending resources without gaining anything back. If you're building a road, you need to be doing one of these two things: follow it up with a settlement or secure a specific area for your settlement. Let's say you and another player are both racing to build on a spot 2 spaces away (very common  early in the game). Say you build two roads, but the other player ends up getting there first. Now you've spent 4 resources in total and have nothing to show for it. You would've been better off building a smaller, less desirable settlement. Early in the game, I don't build any roads until I can secure a settlement at the end of them. Don't simply build roads in the first 3 or 4 rounds to spoil someone else's plans. It doesn't help you get ahead.
3. Port trade often to keep your resources under 7. The 7 is the most commonly rolled number. In a 4-player game, the 7 will be rolled between every other of your turns. It could mean you might need to dump 4 or more of your cards. You're better off, if you have a LOT extra of one resource, to port trade it before you can do anything with it simply to keep at 7 cards or less. You're better off losing 4 cards and gaining a rare resource than simply losing all 4 cards and having nothing to show for it.

I disagree with #2 strongly, for the reason you list in #3 - 7 is rolled too frequently to store up resources all the time.  Storing up for a road and a settlement is just too risky. Early in the game if you are sure that no one can spoil your planned settlement spot you should build the road immediately. Someone could rob you and take your only brick. Late in the game there's very little reason to save because you could potentially gain 6 resources in two rolls, then have most of it robbed away. The exception is if you don't have easy access to stone (or wheat), then not the best idea to buy dev cards when you want a city.

I agree, if you have the road in your hand you should use it, but ONLY if there is little or no risk of someone else racing you to that spot.  Keep in mind that if someone has unturned development cards it may be a road building and if you're doing well or are going to a spot that a nearby player could use there may be more of a chance that you will lose the spot and the road.  Finally, don't forget to consider how much wood and clay competitors may have in their hand or can easily produce.       

I've noticed that the game will pick what it thinks the best spot is for you when it's time for you to select. Often, I'll agree with the AI, but not always.

 DreadPirateWes wrote:

I disagree with #2 strongly, for the reason you list in #3 - 7 is rolled too frequently to store up resources all the time.  Storing up for a road and a settlement is just too risky. 

Good points. Let's say you're working towards a road and a settlement. If you're not racing anyone towards that spot (and it's the best spot to build), by all means, lay down the road. But if it's going to be a race, then you have to think about the fact that you're probably "racing" towards two or three other second-tier spots on the board. By not starting to lay down a road, you do a couple of things:

• Seem friendlier and less threatening to the other players. Who would you rather trade with, the guy who's leaving you alone, or the guy you're racing towards that 3:1 port with the ore and the brick?
• Keeping your options open. If someone else beats you to a spot, instead of having lost a road or two in the process, you've still got a road (or two) and can build an alternate settlement very soon. Sure, it might not be in the place you originally wanted to go to, but that's a lost cause: you didn't get there first.

It's way too risky (and stupid) to go for building three roads and a settlement, or building a settlement and immediately converting it into a city. You'd need 9 or 10 cards and amassing the exact ones is going to be an exercise in futility.

Some thoughts on development cards:

They are one of the least efficient items in the game. If you have the desire to buy a development card as one of your first purchases, don't (in most occasions). The reality is you're one or two resources away from a settlement or a city. Buying a settlement or upgrading to a city is almost always going to be the better play, especially early in the game because over 20+ rolls, you're going to get more out of that city or settlement than out of the development card. And yes, we all have stories about playing the Monopoly that won us the game from 4 points back -- but much more common is the player with 4 points, two of which is the largest army and who never expanded because they spent everything on development cards. Buy one or two early on if you need a knight as insurance, but only if you've got extra resources and it's not affecting your ability to develop further.

All of these are guidelines and they have a lot of exceptions to be sure. I'm only giving away my strategies because so far they've seemed to work OK.

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Catan, finally!

I disagree. The Dev Cards can make or break the game. For one, properly used soldiers can garner up to 2 free resources (play Soldier, roll 7), and Largest Army is a better 2 point bonus than Longest Road because it's harder to beat even just 4 soldiers.

Yes, you need to expend resources on settlements and cities, but never underestimate Dev Cards. Oh, and there's also that chance of getting a free point.

Never buy Dev Cards to try to win a game, though. If you have 8 or 9 points, you should only be getting Dev Cards when your Largest Army is in trouble. Otherwise, you should be stockpiling resources for the City or just a settlement if you're at 9. At that point, you don't care about the Thief because at that point, you only care about ore and wheat.

 Chiwotweiler wrote:

Some thoughts on development cards:

They are one of the least efficient items in the game. If you have the desire to buy a development card as one of your first purchases, don't (in most occasions).

There's a problem with all of the advice on this board:  all of it tries to generalize strategy for a game that's just too different each time you play.  This is a perfect example.

I often choose to buy a development card on my first turn.  (And yes, I do just fine, thank you.) 

Imagine, for example, the following common scenario:

You started the game with wheat and sheep, and you aren't likely to get both wood and brick anytime soon because they're scarce (if you're on wood and/or brick, the numbers aren't great; and the numbers on the hexes you're not on are bad enough that nobody's likely going to want to trade wood or brick, either). 

In other words, it's going to take a while to get a settlement together, and in the meantime your resources will be vulnerable to the robber. 

Getting a development card in this situation is practically imperative.  You're hoping for a soldier, with which you can do two things on your next turn:  shut down production of the rare wood/brick resource that you're waiting on (thus slowing everyone down to your speed); and get a head-start in the race for Largest Army, which you probably have a good shot at since apparently you have access to sheep, wheat, and ore.

You also wouldn't be too upset by a Road Building, Monopoly, or Year of Plenty card in this situation.  (A victory point, on the other hand, would be a bad draw.)

I agree with both you guys, esp this- "All of these are guidelines and they have a lot of exceptions to be sure." A lot depends on the board's layout for each particular game. and the dice. Always the dice. Offerings to Fortuna help.


Like Chi said, in general Settlements and Cities will be more productive then cards. And like JF said, the Dev cards can make the win. Remember, if you have good resources for Dev cards and you have enough to take the army, you'll probably wind up with 4 points total from the deck IF you include the VP cards you're likely to pick up.

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Can YOU Escape from the Dead?

 IN51P1D wrote:

Getting a development card in this situation is practically imperative.

Agreed, agreed. I guess the point is have your strategy be focused but flexible. Personally, I see buying roads and Development Cards as one of the ways that you can easily mismanage resources. Settlements and cities are almost never bad. Roads and Development Cards can be, in the hands of a bad decision maker.

In a game either this morning or last night, I saw someone build a road towards someone else's settlement. The road literally lead to nowhere and it was not blocking anything. It was just a road built for... I dunno, for the road's sake. This was early on, before the person had built their third settlement. What was the point of this?

Also in a recent game, I saw a player buy two development cards in a row, within the first three rounds of the game. Sheep at the time were not plentiful so he could've easily traded sheep » ore. In the third round, he could've had a city, and he had two decent spots to put it in.

On the longest road and largest army. What new players need to keep in mind is that the longest road, especially, is almost never decided until the very final rounds. I'm a fan of getting it (as you can tell from the achievement), but it is not a "solid" 2 Victory Points. It can very easily be taken away and is not a very good way to determine a win condition. In fact, I would say that almost in every game, the person that starts with longest road will have it taken away if not by one, by two other players. It's only until you get to 10 roads or so that it becomes more difficult to take away.

The largest army is actually a bit harder to take away. If you're going for it, at least in the first 15-20 minutes of the game, resist the temptation to play a soldier and move it away from a very good spot. Let's say it's on a 6 wheat that two opponents control. You want to get another notch next to your name and your best option is to move it to a 3 ore that one other opponent has (and they don't even have a card you want). Don't play the knight card just to move the robber. You're giving too much of an advantage to the two opponents and you gain nothing from your card stealing, not to mention the fact that if that's the only knight you have, you're wide open to being shut down.

One last thing on these items, especially with longest road. I actually like when people take longest road because in the eyes of many players, they're seen as a threat simply because they have 2 more Victory Points. This makes me less of a target and makes it easier to politic other players into giving rarer resources ("don't worry, I'll shut down her road" etc.)

Appearing polite. I'm a big fan of appearing or being very friendly in the first half of the match. This is outside of talking, not cursing, etc. I'm not talking about etiquette, which I always try to follow. I'm talking about not making enemies. A sure-fire way to not do well in the game is to start picking fights. Playing a Monopoly in the first four rounds, or moving the robber always to the same player, shutting down someone's road without reason (i.e. w/o benefit to you). These are things that can put a very big target on your face.

There are other threads complaining about this, but you need to team up with another player. This can't always happen, but every other game or so you'll have someone that's on the opposite end of the board and is not going to be competing for resources with you. Do not tick this person off. Trading favorably with them and building a "friendship" means that later in the game you can ask for favors to be returned. I wouldn't be against doing a 3:1 or 4:1 trade with this ally if it meant they would be using those resources to shut down one of the other players. Example, I traded with them at a key moment when we both needed a road (but theirs was more strategically important). If you handle this well, later on you can ask for favorable trades and they're more likely to give it to you.

After a certain period in time, all bets are off of course. But if you're going to tick off all the other players, make sure you do it once you're in a position of strength and do it for reasons important to strategy, not just to be a jerk.

For beginners: What resources are best? A simple question. What resources are "the best"? Well, there's no right answer, but here are some things to think about.

What's on the board? Based on board rarity, ore and brick are much more important. There's only three hexes of each, whereas there's four hexes of sheep, wood, and grain. So, let's score one point for ore and brick, and zero for sheep, wood, and grain.

What do you need to build with? You can build/buy roads, settlements, cities, and development cards. Taking each one at face value, you'd need a total of two brick, two wood, three sheep, four grain, and four ore. But, sometimes you will need two (or more) roads to get to where you need to be. So the "cost" of a road (to get to your next settlement) is higher, more like two brick and two wood. So really, an ideal "hand" that lets you build everything would be: three brick, three wood, three sheep, four grain, and four ore. Let's score one point for ore and grain.

So right now, ore seems to be the most valuable resource, followed by brick and grain. Sheep and wood seem to be largely useless.

The X Factor. This is all good and true if you plan to build equal amounts of cities and settlements, but that's not really the case. The real deciding factor is number placement. Ore can be super valuable, but if it's on a 4, a 5, and an 8, you will see a lot of it in the game. Generally, numbers in the range of 4-10 will come up pretty often.

I generally rank resources this way: brick/ore, wheat/wood, then third sheep. Your first settlement should be focusing on acquiring good numbers or a good placement strategy, not getting the best wood or sheep. But, there's been times where I go only for sheep or forget brick or ore simply because of the way the numbers fell. That, ultimately, is much more important.


Ore vs. Brick. One thing to keep in mind is that while ore and brick are both valuable, you're usually best off (at starting) to keep these to two at most. If you're sitting on a 5-9 brick or ore, don't go for a 3 or 4 of the same resource. Brick and ore are very useful, but they are not as universally useful as grain or sheep. Doubling up on brick is only really advised if you can corner the market on it or if you're sitting on a 2:1 port for that resource.


These are not universal strategies and other players might think something completely different. The truth is I don't play by these strategies all the time and they need to be adjusted game for game.

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Catan, finally!

As far as resources go I have noticed that Brick and Wood are key resources at the beginning of the game while Ore and Grain become key during the end game.  Of course the difference between the beginning and the end is not always easily recognized, and the shift in game play can be subtle. 

Chris

 Zyzomys wrote:

As far as resources go I have noticed that Brick and Wood are key resources at the beginning of the game while Ore and Grain become key during the end game.  Of course the difference between the beginning and the end is not always easily recognized, and the shift in game play can be subtle. 

Yes about the wood/brick early and ore/grain later.  That's why if I have to go without a resource it will usually be ore. I'll try to get the rest on good numbers to reach ore (and ports) later. Also, true about the shift in game play being subtle at times. But, sometimes it can be shockingly obvious- like when you're doing great, going wild with the road, and go to put another settlement down... and realize you have none left!

imo, you can't really consider only brick or only ore as important, because brick is useless without wood and ore is useless without grain. Also, the number of hexs doesn't matter as much as the actual production numbers on the hexs. (you only need to touch one)  If I had to choose the single most important resource (important over the course of a whole game) I would say Grain, because without it you can't do anything except build roads, and you need settlements (grain) to protect a long road...

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Can YOU Escape from the Dead?

 Chiwotweiler wrote:

In a game either this morning or last night, I saw someone build a road towards someone else's settlement. The road literally lead to nowhere and it was not blocking anything. It was just a road built for... I dunno, for the road's sake. This was early on, before the person had built their third settlement. What was the point of this?

Not having seen the game, I can only speculate...

Doing that before building a third settlement was clearly a mistake.  In the later game, a road like that might be used to block another player's Longest Road, or to make a pre-emptive strike against someone else trying to shorten your own Longest Road potential.  But I can't imagine doing it so early.

 Chiwotweiler wrote:

Appearing polite. I'm a big fan of appearing or being very friendly in the first half of the match. This is outside of talking, not cursing, etc. I'm not talking about etiquette, which I always try to follow. I'm talking about not making enemies. A sure-fire way to not do well in the game is to start picking fights. Playing a Monopoly in the first four rounds, or moving the robber always to the same player, shutting down someone's road without reason (i.e. w/o benefit to you). These are things that can put a very big target on your face.

Wellllll...like in a lot of games, hurting an opponent does indirectly benefit you by making it harder for them to win.  An early Monopoly of an important resource like wood or brick could be an excellent move, and using the robber to shut down the player with the best record is a tactic I try to use in a lot of sessions.  If you're worried that people will spend the rest of the game retaliating, use your microphone and turn on the charm -- "sorry I have to do this, guys...heh."

 Ray00 wrote:

 Zyzomys wrote:

As far as resources go I have noticed that Brick and Wood are key resources at the beginning of the game while Ore and Grain become key during the end game.  Of course the difference between the beginning and the end is not always easily recognized, and the shift in game play can be subtle. 

Yes about the wood/brick early and ore/grain later.  That's why if I have to go without a resource it will usually be ore.

If your placement is good enough (say you're on two 10+ ranked intersections), you might need to get a lot of ore early on. Remember, building your first city (5 resources) is cheaper than building your first settlement (6 resources). There's no right or wrong answer of course on what to do.

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Catan, finally!