Baden-Württemberg Catan
Baden-Württemberg Catan Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
The Baden-Württemberg map is made up of five landscapes. In the landscapes, the resources wood, wool, clay, ore and grain are produced. Each landscape has a yield number. (Illustration caption: if a "5" is rolled, all owners of adjacent town halls receive 1 wool.)
Every town hall you build is worth 1 victory point. You start the game with 3 town halls, and therefore with 3 victory points. In a three-player game the first player to reach 12 victory points wins; in a four-player game the first to reach 10 victory points wins.
Components
- Game board
- 116 cards
- 90 resource cards
- 26 development cards
- 1 punch-out board
- 12 landmarks
- 1 inventor
- 4 building cost cards
- 128 pawns
- 80 roads
- 48 town halls
- 2 card holders
- 2 dice
- 13 stands
Setup
Before the first game: Punch out the 12 landmarks, the inventor and the 4 building cost cards from the punch-out board. Then carefully insert the landmarks and the inventor into the stands.
Lay out the game board.
Each player chooses a color and receives 12 town halls and 20 roads.
Sort the cards into resource cards and development cards.
- Resource cards: Sort them by the 5 resource types and place them face up, as a resource supply, in the 5 compartments of the card holders. Place the card holders next to the game board.
- Development cards: Shuffle them and place them face down in the free compartment of one card holder.
- Building cost cards: Shuffle them with the building cost side face up. Each player receives one building cost card. On the back of each building cost card are 3 locations for town halls and the starting resources.
Each player places one of their town halls on each of the three cities shown on their building cost card, and takes the resource cards shown on the card. Each player keeps their resource cards face down in hand. Then each player places their building cost card face up in front of them, with the building cost side showing.
Note: No roads are placed during setup.
Around the outside of the game board, the landmarks of important cities of Baden-Württemberg are illustrated. Under each illustration is a floor plan for the corresponding landmark figure of the city. Place the landmarks on the matching floor plans.
The inventor figure is placed on the pasture with the number "12", south of Sinsheim.
Note: After one or two games, once all players are familiar with the mechanics, the starting town halls should be founded freely. The rule for the variable founding of the starting town halls can be found on the last page (see "Variable Founding of the First 3 Town Halls" below).
Overview of the Turn
The oldest player begins. The player whose turn it is carries out the following actions in the order listed below.
- Yield phase: The player rolls the resource yields for this turn. (The result applies to all players.)
- Trade and build phase: The player may trade and build in any order, and may do so several times in succession. At any point during their trade and build phase the player may also play exactly one development card. For example, it is allowed to build, then trade, then build again, and play a development card.
After this, the player passes the dice to their left-hand neighbor, who continues the game with step 1, "Yield phase".
The Turn in Detail
1. Yield Phase
The player begins their turn by rolling both dice. The total of the two dice determines the land fields that produce yields.
Each player who has a town hall on one of the rolled land fields takes one resource card of that field's type. If a player has several town halls on a rolled land field, they receive one resource card for each town hall.
2. Trade and Build Phase
2a. Trading
The player whose turn it is may trade resource cards with all players. They may state which resources they need and which resources they are willing to give in exchange. They may also listen to their fellow players' offers and make counter-offers.
Important: Players may only trade with the player whose turn it is. Players who are not on turn may not trade with each other.
The player whose turn it is may also trade with the resource supply, without a trading partner. They may trade at any time at a rate of 3:1, by returning 3 identical resource cards to the corresponding pile and taking one resource card of their choice.
If a player plays a development card "Progress: Trade", they may trade at a rate of 2:1 during their turn. That is, they may take any other resource card in exchange for 2 identical resource cards. They may do this as often as they are able to give up 2 identical resource cards.
2b. Building
Starting from the 3 crossings with their starting town halls, each player first builds roads. If a road reaches a crossing with a free town field, the player may build a town hall there. If a road reaches a crossing with a free landmark field, the player may build a landmark there. To build, or to buy a development card, the player must give up a specific combination of resource cards.
Building a road
A road is built on a free path between two crossings. Building costs 1 wood and 1 clay. Only one road may be built on each path. The first road a player builds is placed on a free path adjacent to one of their town halls.
Further roads may be placed adjacent to one of their town halls, or on free paths adjacent to roads of their own that are already built.
When a road is extended from one of the player's own roads, the type of crossing decides how to proceed:
-
Free crossing: Between the existing road and the new road there is a free crossing. The player may place the new road without restriction.
-
Crossing with a town field: Between the existing road and the new road there is a crossing with a town field. The player may place the new road only if they have built a town hall on that town field. If another player has built a town hall on the field, or the town field is still unbuilt, the player may not place the road.
Example: Player Red may build a road beyond Ehingen, because Red has built a town hall on that field. Player Blue may not build a road beyond Ehingen because of Red's town hall, nor beyond Biberach, because Blue has not yet built a town hall in Biberach.
-
Crossing with a landmark field: Between the existing road and the new road there is a crossing with a landmark field. The player may place the new road only if the landmark has been built on that field. Since landmarks are neutral, it does not matter who built the landmark.
Example: In Sigmaringen the landmark has been built. Player Red may therefore build a road beyond Sigmaringen. Player Red may not build a road beyond Friedrichshafen, because the landmark there has not yet been built.
Building a town hall
A player may only build a town hall on a town field adjacent to one of their own roads. Building a town hall costs 1 wood, 1 clay, 1 grain and 1 wool. The player gives up these resources and places one of their town halls on the town field.
Only one town hall may be built on each town field. Every town hall that is built, or placed on the game board, is worth 1 victory point.
Building a landmark
A player may only build a landmark on a landmark field adjacent to one of their own roads.
For each landmark there is only one specific landmark field on which it may be built. For example, the TV Tower must always be built on the landmark field of Stuttgart.
Building a landmark costs 2 ore and 1 grain. The player gives up these resources, takes the corresponding landmark from the outer area of the game board, and places it on the matching field.
Buying a development card
A player who buys a development card pays one wool, one ore and one grain each, and takes the top development card from the pile. Development cards bought are placed face down in front of the player, who keeps them secret until they are used.
Playing a development card
A player whose turn it is may, at any time during their turn, play (reveal) one development card. This may not be a card that the player bought during this same turn.
There are three different kinds of development cards:
-
Inventions When a player plays an invention, they move the inventor figure to another landscape field. The player may then draw one resource card from the concealed hand of a player who has a town hall on this field. (Inventions are expensive, and cannot be achieved without the support of patrons.) Played inventions remain face up in front of their owners.
-
Progress cards
- Road Building: The player immediately places 2 roads for free, following the building rules.
- Successful Invention: The player immediately takes 2 resource cards of their choice from the supply.
- Trade: During their turn, the player may trade 2 identical resource cards for one other resource card of their choice, as often as they like.
Example: With this card it is allowed, for instance, to exchange 4 clay for one grain and one wood each, and then to exchange 2 wool for one wood.
Played progress cards are removed from the game.
-
Achievements Achievements are always worth 1 victory point. They are always kept secret. A player only reveals them once, together with the town halls they have placed on the game board, they reach 10 victory points (with four players) or 12 victory points (with three players) and thereby win the game.
A player may reveal any number of achievements if doing so wins the game, including an achievement bought in the same turn.
Special Rules
a) Rolling a Seven
If the player whose turn it is rolls a "7", no player receives resource yields.
All players who have more than 7 resource cards choose half of all their resource cards and return them to the respective supply piles. When the number is odd, rounding is in favor of the player. (For example, a player with 9 cards must give up 4 of them.)
The player moves the inventor figure to the number of any other landscape field. Important: as long as the inventor stands on this field, the owners of adjacent town halls receive no yields when the number of that field is rolled.
The player then draws one resource card from a fellow player who has one or more town halls on this field. (Inventors always need funds from patrons to advance their research.) If several players have town halls on this field, the player may choose one player from whom to draw a card.
b) Longest Trade Road
As soon as a player has a continuous road of at least 5 roads (branches do not count), they may place one of their town halls on the victory point field "Longest Trade Road" on the game board.
This town hall is worth one victory point like all other town halls placed on the board.
Important: A road is only considered continuous if it is not separated by town halls of other players. Landmarks and a player's own town halls, however, do not interrupt it.
If another player manages to build a longer road, they place one of their town halls on the victory point field, and the previous owner must remove their town hall.
Example: The longest road of player Blue is 5 roads long (white frame). The roads framed in red do not count, because Red's town hall separates them. The black-framed road also does not count, as a shorter branch.
c) Largest Inventor
A player who first has 3 inventions face up in front of them may place one of their town halls on the victory point field "Largest Inventor" on the game board. This town hall is worth one victory point like all other town halls placed on the board. If another player has played more inventions, that player places one of their town halls on the victory point field, and the previous owner must remove their town hall.
End of the Game
A player whose turn it is, and who has at least 12 victory points with three players or at least 10 victory points with four players, ends the game and wins.
Variable Founding of the First 3 Town Halls
The die is rolled to determine who begins the game. The first player places one of their town halls on any town field. The other players follow in clockwise order. The player who places their first town hall last may then place their second town hall. The other players follow again, this time counterclockwise. The player who places their second town hall last may then place their third town hall. The other players follow again in clockwise order.
Each player receives as starting resources one resource of each landscape field adjacent to the town hall they placed last.