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From:Kosmos
Cost: $18
Players: 3-4
Playing Time: 60-90 minutes
Type of game: Expansion
Skill level: 4
Complexity: 3
Reviewed by: Peter Sarrett, Issue 6.2 (22), January 2000
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Let's just cut to the chase on this one. Die Siedler von Catan Historische Szenarien: Alexander & Cheops is a no-brainer purchase for any Settlers fan. If, like me, you've played so much Settlers that the thought of playing the basic game fills you with indifference, these scenarios breathe new life into your well-worn set. This expansion is also the best value in the whole franchise, providing an enormous double-sided game board and lots of cardboard counters used by the new pair of radically different scenarios. Unlike the standard game, these scenarios use a preprinted board with a fixed hex and number arrangement, making the game’s initial state identical every time.
Some of you may already be familiar with the Cheops scenario which was previously released as a poster. Cheops shows the Nile river delta- heavy on pastures and wheat fields, low on forests and mountains. Everyone’s initial settlements have to border the Nile, and thus only two resource-producing hexes. So you’re allowed an extra settlement to compensate. The eastern shore affords access to the game’s only lumber and mountain hexes, but a long journey is required to reach them. Spots on the opposite shore allow players to construct the great pyramid of Cheops.
Anyone with a settlement on these spots can spend a rock and brick to build a piece of the pyramid. The player who adds the most pieces gains the pharoah’s favor and three victory points, while all other players incur the pharoah’s curse and lose two victory points. Like the longest road (which doesn‘t exist in this scenario), the pharoah’s favor can be stolen by building more parts of the pyramid.
The pyramid also functions as a timing mechanism. Whenever a seven is rolled a neutral piece gets added to the pyramid. When the pyramid is finished, or when all the neutral pieces are gone, the game ends. The game can also end normally if someone accumulates enough victory points.
An interesting rule in this scenario is the sharing of settlements. If a player can trace a unbroken route from one of his settlements to one of his opponents’, he can use the port or pyramid construction site occupied by the opposing settlement as if it were his own. The connecting route can be comprised of any combination of roads or ships, including those of other players. But you have to pay a usage fee of one gold to the settlement’s owner. Gold? Cheops introduces this new commodity which, aside from usage fees, is only good for grinding 4:1 into other things.
The setup in this scenario is fascinating. More so than in most traditional games of Settlers, a player’s initial position determines a large part of his strategy. There are some clear choices- a mad dash for lumber, a push toward ore, wheat or sheep baron, pyramid king. And just to confuse the issue, a single 3:1 port. The interesting thing is that none of these choices are particularly appealing. They’re all speculative and highly dependent on the right die rolls to make them work. This is Settlers, after all. Choosing the best of all possible evils amidst s harsh landscape and then making it work is what makes this scenario so satisfying.
The Alexander scenario is an entirely different animal. The map contains over twice as many hexes as usual, and yet players start the game without any settlements whatsoever. This makes it rather difficult to produce resources, so instead all the resource cards are shuffled together and each player is dealt a card at the start of every player’s turn until the deck runs out. You may not have any control over what you get, but at least you’re guaranteed something each turn regardless of the die roll.
A path meanders throughout the board along hex borders, with an icon at each vertex along the path. Some of these icons get covered with face-down chits at the start of the game. Alexander advances along the path every turn and triggers an auction.
Auctions progress around the table, each player raising or passing until only one remains. Bids are made with resource cards from a player’s hand, but certain resources are allowed- the exact mix depends on the icon showing on the space or shit Alexander stands on. Consequently the same hand of resources can be strong or weak at different times. This scenario also includes gold, which this time around can be used to increase any bid by one per gold spent. A clever touch is the ability to spend unused Ritter (Knight) cards to increase a bid by three points, effectively converting the card back into the resources used to acquire it.
There are two possible rewards for the high bidder. If Alexander is on a chit, the winning bidder keeps the chit. The first to win three chits gets a card worth four victory points. The next to pick up three chits gets three victory points, and the third player to do so gets two. Like the longest road, these victory points bounce around if a player exceeds another’s chit total.
If Alexander is on a temple, the winner of an auction can immediately build a settlement on that spot at no additional cost. These auctions are critical, especially in the early game because of the snowball effect. The first player to gain a settlement stands to get more resources than his opponents, giving him a leg up in future auctions. To balance this advantage, the first couple of settlements have decent numbers but are in pretty lousy locations with limited opportunities for expansion. Still, it’s possible for a player to get his second settlement while one of his opponents is still madly bidding on his first. Such a homeless player will be hard-pressed to overcome that disadvantage. Buy early, buy often.
The game ends at 14 victory points or when Alexander reaches the end of his route.
The use of resources as bidding material means that every resource type is useful throughout the game, and the battle for chits presents some intriguing resource management dilemmas. Players must choose between bidding for the current settlement or saving one’s resources for the next, more attractive spot which might require a higher bid (in Settlers as in real estate, it’s location, location, location).
Alexander cross-breeding of Settlers with an auction mechanic results in a dramatically different feel from the standard game. Players have a burning need to get a settlement- any settlement- in the early game. Once that’s accomplished, there’s the constant choice between saving for auctions or spending on traditional expansion. Both scenarios are well-designed and will have Settlers fans clamoring to try them again.