Seafarers of Catan Info
This is different from Settlers in that there is no set way for putting the board together. You pick a scenario and then set it up the way it tells you to.
Setup and resource strategy
This is very similar to Settlers except there are more hexes and there should be water separating the land.
Lets look at the what we got and the potential strategy:
1. Land types: There are varying numbers of hexes that produce bricks, wood, sheep, grain, and ore. There might be a gold hex or two and there is probably a desert.
2. Port hexes: These are actually regular water hexes with the special ports for this game place on them. You should still have one for each resource allowing you to trade it in for whatever resource you want at a 2:1 ratio. You also got several generic ports that let you trade any resource you happen to have at a 3:1 ratio for a different resource.
3. Roll numbers: Each time you roll the dice, the number of the dice causes all hexes with that number to produce resources. There might be different amounts of these number, but nothing is produced on "7".
You only get to place two settlements to start with, so you had better put them in good places. Here are some guidelines/strategies that may help, but no guarantee.
1. Observe the board and see how many players you are playing with. Use the same strategy that you would for Settlers except examine the shorelines more closely. If you aren't going to get very good spots, make sure that you can get sheep and wood so you can sail away.
2. If you are going 3rd and there are 3 players, this means you get to place two in a row. Use this to your advantage. Keep the same strategy for settlers, but if it's not going well, find a decent spot on the shore.
3. Try not to place on ports or water. You might think I'm crazy, but what it is more important to get good resources and rolls than a spot on the water as long as you can get at least one of your settlements close to the shore. This also demonstrates a flaw in this game: It is entirely possible to win without building any ships if you are playing a scenario with sufficient mainland.
Opening Strategy
The strategy is largely similar to the regular Settlers of Catan game, however I will make one suggestion.
Try to get a port early. There are more things you can build so you want to be able to trade in for different things. It's good to have a settlement on water early even if you don't build ships. It's just a good idea to keep your options open.
Mid-Game Strategy
This is also similar to the Mid-Game section under the Settlers of Catan page. The idea of ships makes this game more complicated and a lot can happen. You should keep in mind that you are probably playing to higher than 10 victory points, so there is no rush. You can probably afford to buy more development cards. If you don't decide to dominate the mainland like you should, then start building ships. Always try to be flexible. If you can tell that someone is going somewhere with a ship that you don't want them to go, stick that pirate on them.
End-Game/Winning Strategy
This shouldn't be much different than Settlers of Catan, however I will stress, that the higher number of victory points you play to, the more significant development cards are. I know you can get 13 (15 with longest trade route) without them, but remember that those points are obvious while hidden victory points and knights ready to become armies are more subtle. In my experience, we have often played to 15 in the regular game (usually under the Free Settlement Strategy variant and Capital variant), and I have gone up 8 victory points in one turn. Who would have suspected I could win the turn before? One more thing, if there is ever a time to expand off the island, it's when you are close to winning. Late in the game, victory points matter more than production, so you can afford to build some ships and get to an island, where you often get a victory point bonus, meaning that that settlement is worth 2 points instead of 1. If you have 11 points and you're going to 13, you just won the game!
Controversy
As you may have noticed, the rules are a bit vague. Nowhere in the rule book does it describe the movement of ships. I have heard you can move them anywhere, but there are also people that disagree and say you can only move them one intersection per turn. To me, either case seems a bit extreme. Perhaps a good solution would be to roll a mothership from Starfarers if you have one. Perhaps a better would be to take German and read Kosmos ultimate book.
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