Teuber on the Catan Card Game, Part 4

Klaus Teuber has published his fourth article on the reform of the Catan Card Game on Catan.com. (Links to the first article, second article and third article.)

In this article, Teuber explores the history of Catan itself, as developed in the Die Siedler von Catan novel by Rebecca Gablé, then further expanded upon by Teuber:

If Catan were a large island in the area of today’s Azores (the Azores were not discovered until 1427), chances would not have been too bad for other seafarers to reach the island. And indeed, in 960 the Viking prince Carl Gabelbart lands with a large fleet on the shores of Catan. Carl didn’t actually want to sail to Catan but was on a Viking journey heading south; however, a storm set in and carried his longships filled with warriors off course, far to the west.

Carl is impressed by Catan’s beauty and fertility and decides to conquer the island and become its ruler. But first it is necessary to boost his men’s morale and satisfy their most important need: women.

Oh, really? Teuber goes on to explain how the events within this history lead to various Theme Sets for Die Fürsten von Catan – as the new card game will be called – such as the “Times of Turmoil” related to the events described above or “The Era of the Merchant Princes.” As previously noted, each of the three Theme Sets included in Die Fürsten von Catan, due for release from Kosmos and Mayfair Games in Q3/Q4 2010, has 24 cards that are mixed with the cards of the Introductory Game. An expansion containing additional Theme Sets will be released in 2011.

Teuber also shares a half-dozen sketches from artist Michael Menzel, along with Menzel’s descriptions of same, to show off the graphics of the new edition. Interesting to learn that Menzel works entirely with Photoshop on a graphics tablet, with 3-6 hours spent on each card image. Those hours really add up!

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