Die Welt Catan (The world according to Catan)

"Die Welt Catan" from Die Siedler von Catan: Das Buch
Players: 3 or 4 (4 is better)
Duration: c. 100 minutes
By Guido Kleinke
Translation by Christian Beijner.

1. Components

Required Settler sets:
Basic game+5-6 player expansion.
Seafarer expansion+5-6 player expansion.

Additional Buch Components needed:
10 Victory point markers.
1 Storm marker.
6 numbered counters (see scenario listing).
2 colored markers in each color.

Each player can use:
15 roads
5 settlements
6 cities
15 ships
Because there are only 4 cities in each color available, and the scenario asks for 6, you will have to use something else to mark city 5 and 6 for players (say the water tanks from "Catan Express").

2. Building the playing area:
Construct the scenario as depicted in the image on page 98. Put the 3:1 harbor from the seafarer expansion at the top of "Eurasia" as depicted. Mix the harbors from the basic settlers game and place them randomly in the remaining harbor spots. Put the Victory point markers on the spots indicated, they indicate famous discoveries, Cape of Good Hope, the source of the Nile or Ayer's rock in Australia. Put the Storm marker in the sea hex in the lower left, with the arrow aligned in the indicated direction. Put the 6 extra numbered counters into a bag for random drawing.

The image on page 98 shows the continents of Eurasia, Africa, America and Australia.

Players must place their initial settlements on the Eurasian continent. Africa is separated from Eurasia by the two deserts (Sahara). Initial settlements may not be placed on any of these deserts. Any player placing a settlement on a coast may place a ship instead of a road.

3. Rule changes.
Rules works as in basic settlers with seafarer expansion, with the following exceptions:

There is no Victory point for settling on a new continent, as is common in many seafarer scenarios.
The pirate is not used in this scenario.

A) The discovery of new continents.
When a player places a ship or road that connects to an intersection adjoining a (non-desert) hex, the player draws a random counter token from the bag. If there are no tokens left in the bag, one is selected as per the rule "resource depletion".
If a player places a ship or a road that connects to an intersection where there is a Victory point chit, the player takes and keeps this Victory point.

B) Crossing of the Pacific
In this scenario it is possible to have a shipping lane cross the left or right edge and come in on the other side. The map connects from the left edge to the right edge, but not top to bottom. A shipping lane can extend from the left hand side of the map to the right hand side or vice versa. Whenever half a hex exists on both edges, treat this as a single hex. See illustration on pg 100. It is not possible to have a shipping lane extend in this way on the upper or lower edge (Shipping lanes cannot cross from pole to pole).

C) The Storm.
When a "7" is rolled on the dice, first the storm is moved, then the robber is moved. Only the hex where the storm lands is affected by the storm effects (see below). The storm moves a number of steps in the of the larger number showed on the two dice, in the direction which it pointed at the start of the move. The storm may not move off the map. When the storm has moved the full number of steps or reaches a map edge, the player who moved the storm may turn it in any he chooses direction, except towards an adjacent map edge.
Players who have roads or ships adjacent to the resultant hex loses one segment of these roads or one of these ships (their choice what and which). If this creates a break in a shipping lane, the player must build a ship to restore the shipping lane, before the player builds a ship anywhere else. Or if it creates a gap in a road, a road segment must be built to restore the road, before the player builds a road segment anywhere else.
The storm does not affect production in the hex in which it stops.
Example (see illustration page 101): Red player has rolled a "7" on the dice (5 and 2). He must move the storm 5 steps in the direction it pointed when he rolled the "7". After one step, it reaches the edge and the player selects southeast as the new direction. After two steps it reaches another edge and the player selects the southwestern direction. After two more steps, the storm stops and the player may turn it in any desired direction. Blue and White player is hit by the storm and each loses a ship.

D) Resource depletion
If there are no more numbered counters remaining in the bag, when a player wants to put a counter on a newly discovered land, a chip will be allocated by removing it from Eurasia and placing it on the new hex within the following limitations:
a) A counter cannot be removed if this would remove the last counter adjacent to any settlement or city.
b) A player must take a counter adjacent to one of his own settlements/cities, while still following rule a) above. Only if there is no other alternative, may a player take a token not adjacent to his own settlements/cities.
c) A red counter (numbers 6 and 8) may not be placed adjacent to another red counter(numbers 6 and 8)

But: If for some reason a player can find no token that can be removed from the Eurasia, he can remove a counter from anywhere on the map, to place in the newly discovered hex. He must still obey the limitations of a) through c) above.

4. End of the Game
The player who on his turn has 15 victory points wins.