Jim

When you have chosen a mage and are either using a pre-built spell list or working on your own customized spellbook make sure to carefully look at any spells that are exclusive to your mage.

In many cases the mage exclusive spells provide your mage with ways to pay less to cast spells, cast additional spells during a game round and gain more mana each round. Gaining more mana than your opponent each round is a HUGE advantage. Other exclusive spells can allow your mage to easily boost other creatures, cause your opponent to pay mana when they attack your mage, etc.

For example, when playing the Beastmaster, the Lair conjuration can be cast on a zone and becomes a new source of mana (gaining 2 mana each round). You also get to choose an animal creature spell in addition to the two spells you choose for your mage during the planning stage. That additional animal creature can be summoned at the Lair during deployment and doesn’t require the mage to take an action or quickcast action!

Spreading yourself thin between getting treasure VPs and defeating enemies for VPs is a dangerous road to travel. You’ll find other players quickly moving past you as they become stronger in one focus or the other.

Let’s find that treasure!
You want to make sure you get the majority of search tokens on the treasures first so that you are the only one to collect the VPs! If you can get a hold of an action card that let’s you place 2 search markers as one action, then between that and your basic “place one search marker” card you’ll be able to grab the majority in one turn!

Don’t spread your search markers thin though because you only have six. If you have all your markers out there, other players might purposefully not complete them so you’re stuck.

Cover me Sully, I’m gonna take these guys out!
The trick with killing enemies is getting as many weapon cards out there as possible. Only discard weapon cards from your hand as “damage boosters” if they are weapons that you can only use once anyway.

The beauty of killing enemies is that when you defeat them you get to draw from the special action deck which is full of great weapons, so you’ll soon become a killing machine. Also, though you aren’t focused on treasure hunting, keep an eye out for treasures that give you a damage bonus if you have a search marker on them. These can go a long way in the beginning when you’re trying to build up weapon action cards.

Another thing to look for are weapons that give you a bonus when you’re low on health. If you use the special action side of a character card, many of the characters have a similar special ability. Just make sure you have enough cards to block damage. I once killed three enemies in one turn, but used all my cards doing so, which meant I couldn’t block any damage. Don’t forget, if you die, it doesn’t matter how many VPs you had… you loose.

If players are focused on what they need to do to win, and/or what players other than you are doing, they will be less inclined to try and bump your chips out of the spaces. Then all you need are three good tosses and the right amount of money to complete an entire blend in just one round.

One of the most effective ways of doing this is by being vocal! If you see a player with chips in spaces that would complete a blend, let another player know, and suggest they bump that person’s chip. Also, don’t say things like “Oooo, I’ve got all my chips where they need to be!” This will certainly make you an instant target!

This might not be your style, but it can be very effective.

What’s fun about the chip tossing is that it can be mastered! You might consider letting everyone take a few practice tosses with their chips before each game, especially if someone’s never played before.

Gripping the chip
I prefer holding the chip from above almost as if you were sliding the chip. You can also grip the chip like you would if you were to toss a card or throw a frisbee. Just don’t throw very hard!

Banking and bumping
Just like balls in the game of billiards, how your chip hits other chips and the board edge will affect it’s direction of movement. A skilled throw can not only bump other chips off a space but also put your chip right where you want it!

It’s very important to watch what spices other players are buying. A blend can be completed in just one round if a player gets all their chips in the right spaces. Tossing your chip to knock another player’s chip off a spice bowl can be just as important as trying to get your chips where you want them.

To keep things brief, I’ll assume you’ve read and understand the basic rules of the game.

When you roll to attack your opponent, your chance to hit per die is generally 1/6 (16%) or 2/6 (33%) depending on the weapon your attacking unit has.

One way to improve your odds is to bring out your red banner units to roll 4 dice when you attack. But why not improve your odds no matter how many dice you roll!

By blocking your opponent’s retreat path, the flags you roll also count as a hit! (with exception to flags they can ignore if they are bold) This means your chance to hit per die is increased to either 2/6 (33%) when normally only the same banner color hits, or 3/6 (50%) when normally only the same banner color and bonus strike hit.

When you typically roll only 2, 3 or 4 dice per attack, an additional 16% chance per die is huge.

How to block the retreat path
When a unit retreats it must move directly towards it’s starting side of the board. To block them from retreating, you simply occupy the two spaces directly behind them. Many times they will have one of their own units occupying one of the spaces behind them, so you simply fill in the other!

If your opponent is blocking their own unit’s retreat path (they occupy both spaces behind one of their units), they will most likely be bold, but can only ignore one of your flags, so your odds are still improved!

Never underestimate the power of a bold unit!

For one, after your opponent attacks one of your bold units, your defending unit gets a free “battle back” attack if there is at least one man left standing. Since you can only order around 3 units per turn, free attacks are huge. Then there are the flag rolls and retreating. Being able to ignore a retreat against your bold units keeps you close to your opponent so you can use your next turn to attack rather than to just advance.

An example of a good bold formation is to put a red short sword unit in front, backed by two blue short sword units. The red unit will likely draw the attention of the attack, and can battle back with 4 die (note this formation would hurt the red unit if more than one flag was rolled). Then on your turn you can move the blue units up and destroy whatever was attacking you.

I absolutely love this game, but the rulebook is very confusing. I would compare it to how confused I was when I read the Agricola rulebook.

If you can’t find someone to teach you how to play, the next best way to learn is to watch one or all of the videos I’ve linked to below. Then just start playing, and during each “Lookout phase”, go over all the icons on the 5 cards you draw, to learn about what they do. By the time you’ve played a few rounds, you’ll have a good idea of what’s going on. Don’t get caught up about what you “should” do, treat the first game as a learning game, and just try things out for the sake of learning.

The Dice Tower: Review and gameplay overview – view on youtube >
Drakkenstrike: Components brakedown and review – view on youtube >

We like to add those extra replacement trains to the game. This makes the game last a bit longer, and also gives more opportunity to get lots of points!

By adding the trains, each player will have 48 instead of 45.

Try re-rolling 7′s until the first city is built.

This will speed up the initial part of the game. It also stops anyone from getting their good numbers blocked right at the beginning, and being stuck with nothing to do for awhile.

[update] I’ve tried out both Mayday Games’ “Premium 65x100mm” and “Magnum 65mm x 100mm” sleeves. The Premium sleeves are 125% thicker, and in my opinion the better way to go. They make the cards feel much more sturdy, and more easy to shuffle.

Being new to putting sleeves on cards, I think I’ll continue to go the route of using thicker sleeves. It can cost more up front, but will save having to re-sleeve the cards later since for me, the thin sleeves seem to bend and wrinkle too quickly, and then make viewing and shuffling the cards mor difficult.

[original tip] I recommend putting sleeves on the cards of this game. One reason is that if you play a lot of games with 2-4 players, the 6 and 7 player cards won’t get used much, so you’ll have some cards really worn out, and some almost new. Also, your passing cards constantly, and if you play this game as much as I do, sleeves will just make the game last longer.

In my experience with playing a 4-player Settlers game, one person is always twiddling their thumbs due having nowhere to build because of a crowded board, and spends half the game with nothing to do and almost no way to compete for the win. We now play with the 5-6 player extension for Settlers for 4-player games and haven’t had that happen since. It does make things a bit easier, but hey… shouldn’t it be fun for everyone!

A dragon has devoured the robber and now roams the land of Catan!

Setup: The robber pawn will now represent the Dragon. Place the Dragon on the desert tile at the start of the game. The desert tile is considered the “Dragon’s Lair.”

Soldier card: The soldier card can be used only to attack the Dragon, and cannot be used to move the Dragon. There is no robber in this variant.

Dragon’s slumber: Until the first city is built, the Dragon will sleep peacefully in its Lair. So all 7′s are re-rolled. After the first city is built, all 7′s rolled will cause the Dragon to roam Catan in search of resources.

MOVING THE DRAGON
When a 7 is rolled during the resource roll, the Dragon will move.
First determine the direction the Dragon moves: Each side of the tile the dragon is currently on will represent a number, starting with one side (chosen by the player who rolled the 7) representing #1, then clockwise the sides of the tile will be #2, #3, #4, #5 and #6.
Roll for the direction: The current player then rolls 1 dice, the number rolled will match one of the sides, this is the direction the dragon will move.

Second, determine how many spaces the Dragon will move: Roll 1 dice, the number rolled is how many spaces the dragon will move, in a straight line, in the previously determined direction.
Move the dragon: Move the dragon in a straight line for both the direction and number of spaces previously determined. If the dragon is on, or moves to, an edge tile (next to water) and would move into the water, it stops on the tile next to the water.

THE DRAGON’S WRATH
When the dragon ends its movement, it will take one random resource card from every settlement and city built on that tile (If one player has multiple settlements or cities built on the tile, they must give up one random card per settlement or city). Those resource cards are put to the side in a pile called the “Dragon’s treasure pile.” The dragon then blocks the resource that it is currently on, but every time that number is rolled, one card of that resource will be added to the Dragon’s treasure pile.

ATTACKING THE DRAGON
The dragon can be attacked either at the beginning of a player’s turn who has a settlement or city built on the tile the dragon is on, or by playing the soldier card.

Player’s turn who has settlements or cities built next to the Dragon:
Before the resource roll, the the player may choose to attack the dragon by rolling 1 dice per settlement and city they have built on that tile. Do not combine the total if rolling multiple dice.

Unsuccessful attack
On a roll of 1-4, the attack is unsuccessful, and the player continues with his/her turn as normal. If that player has a soldier card they may choose to play it before or after the resource roll.

Successful attack
If the attack roll is a 5 or 6 on at least one of the rolled dice, the Dragon retreats to its lair (place the Dragon on the desert tile), and the attacking player puts the Dragon’s Treasure cards in their hand. The player will then roll for resources. If a seven is rolled, the dragon will move, but that player ignores the max number of cards in their hand rule for that turn.

ATTACKING WITH THE SOLDIER CARD
The soldier can be played as normal on any player’s turn before or after the resource roll. When the soldier card is played, the player rolls 1 dice to attack the Dragon.

Unsuccessful attack
On a roll of 1-4, the attack is unsuccessful, and the player must put one random card from their hand on the Dragon’s treasure pile, and continues their turn as normal.

Successful attack
On a roll of 5 or 6 the attack is a success and the Dragon retreats to its lair (place the dragon on the desert tile). The player puts the Dragon’s treasure pile in their hand, and each player built on the tile the dragon retreated from gives the player who defeated the Dragon one card of their choice for every settlement or city they have built on that tile. Play then continues as normal.

I was at a game store and the owner told me this variant… it was awhile ago, so a lot of it is my own take on it. Hope you enjoy!

The Robber, or Smuggler as we’ll call it from here on, get’s placed as normal either by rolling a 7 or playing the soldier card. Rather than placing the Smuggler on top of the number, place it to the side of the number. The Smuggler takes one card from one of the players that is built on that resource as normal, but the Smuggler does not block the number. Instead, when that number is rolled, the players built there continue to get the resource, but the player who placed the Smuggler gets that resource as well!

This rule variation removes the anger and frustration that would occur when the robber was placed on your numbers. It’s great for playing with a spouse, or a group that is sensitive to tough competition.

Check out the video walkthroughs FFG has created. The rulebook is quite large, so the videos are a warm welcome.