First, I think that there are three elements in these set which are generally great expansions to Settlers and which generally help to improve and balance the game. They're the type of thing that I think most players should use most of the time. The first of these are the Catan Event Cards, which still maintain the randomness of Catan, but keep it within bounds, reducing the chance of long runs of good or bad luck.
The impact of the event cards is a little more significant than this. On the plus side, I like that some of the events reward different activities (like building at harbors) which change up the base game a bit. And the fact that it can give you a theoretically smoother bell curve is nice.
But, the event cards also have potential to frustrate players. It's a subtle but significant effect. There is more to Settlers than what is rolled, when it is rolled is also important. If the Robber is positioned on your '8', and if (when using dice) a bunch of 8s are rolled, you can still know that when you clear off the Robber, you're "back to even", in that the probabilities of that hex producing on any given turn are always the same. With the deck, if those 8s come up while your production is blocked, those are dice rolls that are gone, gone, gone, never to return, so watching your production come up while the Robber is in your territory is potentially much more frustrating if you're using the deck.
I do still think the event deck is a good and fun variant, but it'll never replace the dice for me.
re: the Fishermen, one of the nice features of this variant is that it "opens the game up" a bit. There is more production, and there are more useful spots to build in. For folks who found the 4-player version of the game a little tight, with one player potentially squeezed out too early due to a lack of building options, the slightly richer Fishermen may make the game more appealing.
On the other hand, a lot of people feel the 3-player version of Catan is a little too open, with not quite enough competition. The Atlantis variant from the Book and from the Atlantis boxed expansion was great for turning the screws on the the 3-player game. The Barbarian Invasion scenario in Traders & Barbarians works similarly to Atlantis, and I would expect would also be good for tightening up the game for 3 players.
I do still think the event deck is a good and fun variant, but it'll never replace the dice for me.
Yup, I'm sure there are people who will always like the dice better.
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re: the Fishermen, one of the nice features of this variant is that it "opens the game up" a bit. There is more production, and there are more useful spots to build in. For folks who found the 4-player version of the game a little tight, with one player potentially squeezed out too early due to a lack of building options, the slightly richer Fishermen may make the game more appealing.
Almost exactly what I wrote in my longer full review of the Fishermen.
I'm somewhat disappointed that you didn't try the two-player variation, as at the moment that's what's really tempting me with regards to this expansion.
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I already own 2 copies of the original game and first 2 boxed expansions, all the older editions along with fishermen of Catan and the Great River. From the box, it didn't look like there was much to justify the high price of this set. The clerk at my FGLS said that the map tiles were a slightly different size than the earlier game version, but sized to match the latest version of the base game. There's no way I'd rebuy the base game just to be able to use this expansion. Your review seems to contradict that, but I'd appreciate it if it could be confirmed. It also implies that the map tiles for Fishermen are of the sturdier stock that the regular game tiles are made of rather than the flimsy cardboard of the standalone expansion.
I noticed my FGLS still has the card deck for sale seperately, so I could pick that up separately. The one barbarian scenario sounds too much like a poor man's Cities and Knights. It even sounds similar in game play, just without the extra resources. While the harbormaster may be a nice addition, it sounds easy enough to house rule with a homemade card. Other than the caravan variant, there doesn't seem to be enough new material in the box and I'm having a hard time justifying the cost. What am I missing?
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I'm somewhat disappointed that you didn't try the two-player variation, as at the moment that's what's really tempting me with regards to this expansion.
Yep, unfortunately 2-players are hard for me to get to the table; sorry.
The clerk at my FGLS said that the map tiles were a slightly different size than the earlier game version, but sized to match the latest version of the base game.
They look 100% identical to me. If you look at the top photo in my review, that's a new tile at the top sitting right next to old tiles all around it.
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It also implies that the map tiles for Fishermen are of the sturdier stock that the regular game tiles are made of rather than the flimsy cardboard of the standalone expansion.
I just looked at my old Fisherman my new Fisherman and my old tiles and they all seem to have the same thickness. I thought I'd remembered the Fisherman tiles being flimsier like you said, but maybe I used someone else's set when I originally played it and they were from a different printing or something.
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Other than the caravan variant, there doesn't seem to be enough new material in the box and I'm having a hard time justifying the cost. What am I missing?
If you've already bought most of the standalones, it may no longer be sufficiently valuable to you, but here's what you'd get beyond the Fisherman, Great River, and Event Deck:
Colorful rule book
The Harbormaster VP tile
Tokens for use with 2-player variant
New fisherman set that has a central lake
New Great river set that includes a set 4-length river and wooden bridge meeples
Great Caravan, including tons of wooden camels
Barbarian Invasion, including tons of barbarians and new development cards
Traders & Barbarians, including new good token and new development cards
I would have said it was a pretty good deal before you bought the event deck. In any case, there's a lot of stuff in the box. Definitely a far, far better deal than, say, Seafarers.
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